The Sweeper - A World Football Podcast

Lee Wingate and Paul Watson
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  • EVERY TWO WEEKS
The Sweeper - A World Football Podcast Podcast

Lee Wingate and Paul Watson explore the weird and wonderful world of football across FIFA’s 211 member states – and sometimes beyond. Join us once a fortnight as we round up the global football headlines with a touch of geography, politics, history, culture and food, plus a healthy dose of humour. Listen to our next episode on Wednesday 18 September 2024 or join us for a bonus podcast on Patreon on Wednesday 11 September. Sign up at patreon.com/SweeperPod.

  1. 3 DAYS AGO

    Turks & Caicos' 14-year-old goalie, Bolivia's altitude advantage & Argentina's gun-wielding chairman

    This episode is brought to you in collaboration with FIFA+. Click here to get your free FIFA+ account and watch live football around the world: tinyurl.com/FIFAPlusSweeper   Part 1 covers the best international window for underdogs in living memory, with San Marino’s first-ever competitive triumph, Anguilla’s first victory since 2010 & American Samoa’s first win since 2015 among the highlights. There’s also a mention for the Turks & Caicos Islands’ 14 year-old goalie, a rare competitive away win for altitude specialists Bolivia & a presidential helicopter disruption at Guyana vs. Suriname.   There’s a special announcement to kick off Part 2, as we tell the listeners all about The Sweeper Podcast’s brand-new partnership with FIFA+ and all the matches around the world that can be live-streamed in top quality for free. The episode then finishes off with some great headlines from Chile and Argentina: Huachipato’s two games in one day, Barnechea’s 45-point deduction, Talleres’ gun-wielding chairman & Banfield’s half-time coach sacking.   To enter the draw to win the San Marino-Liechtenstein match programmes & the Anguilla shirt, join us on Patreon at patreon.com/SweeperPod. There you will also be able to read our San Marino bonus blog and find our next bonus podcast on Wednesday 25 September, in which we talk about the Welsh substitute who got arrested before the final whistle, the Italian coach who scythed down an opponent & Chris Smalling’s nightmare debut for Al Fayha.   RUNNING ORDER: 00:00 – Intro 00:31 – San Marino: Local disbelief 05:00 – Anguilla: First victory in 14 years 06:42 – Turks & Caicos: 14-year-old goalie 10:21 – Bolivia: Altitude & away wins 14:18 – International window: The best ever? 16:08 – Guyana: The presidential helicopter 18:55 – FIFA+: Introducing our new partner 22:43 – Chile: Huachipato’s two games in a day 26:50 – Chile: Barnechea’s 45-point deduction 29:27 – Argentina: Talleres’ feisty chairman 32:20 – Argentina: Banfield’s half-time sacking Editor: Ralph Foster

    36 min

  2. 5 SEPT

    BONUS POD: SAN MARINO WIN A FOOTBALL MATCH!!!

    Would you believe it?! San Marino, the worst team in the world by FIFA ranking (210), have ended the longest winless run in international football history (140 games dating back to April 2004) and won a competitive match for the first time in their history! The 'Titani' beat Liechtenstein 1-0 in the UEFA Nations League. Along with other content creators, friends & listeners, Sweeper duo Lee Wingate & Paul Watson were live in Serravalle to witness this monumental moment and talk about it afterwards in a special one-off bonus pod in a local bar after the final whistle. We hope you enjoy it - and please try out our other episodes if you do!

    17 min

  3. 3 SEPT

    Europe for Larne & TNS, Papua NG's breakaway league & Comoros’ wizard-loving boss

    Part 1 is devoted to the final round of UEFA club competition qualifying & the upcoming league phase in the three tournaments. We look at the Larne, TNS, RFS & Slovan Bratislava underdog success stories, amazing social media posts involving the Smurfs and Mr. Bean, the changed format of the three club competitions and the computerised draw, plus the best European groundhops you could make to take in the league phase action. In Part 2, we divide our time between domestic club football and the international game. A broken goal is met with the suggestion of blowtorch repair in the Icelandic top tier, Papua New Guinea’s Admiralty Islands FC relocate to the mainland for six months and the international break looms large with three standout fixtures: San Marino vs. Liechtenstein, Comoros vs. Madagascar and Guyana vs. Suriname. If you don’t want to wait until 18 September for our next episode, then you can join us for a bonus podcast on 11 September at patreon.com/SweeperPod. You will also be able to read our blog about the 2024 Greenlandic Football Championship, enter the draw to win a B67 shirt, become part of our growing Discord community and get exclusive content from our trip to watch San Marino take on Liechtenstein in Serravalle. RUNNING ORDER: 00:00 – Intro 03:04 – UEFA qualifiers: Upsets & underdogs 09:00 – UEFA qualifiers: Media & memes 14:13 – UEFA qualifiers: Unfamiliar formats 18:56 – UEFA qualifiers: Groundhopping guidance 24:29 – Collapsing goals in Iceland & Romania 30:56 – Papua New Guinea’s relocating islanders 36:56 – San Marino & the international break 44:12 – Patreon perks & B67 shirt giveaway Editor: Ralph Foster

    46 min

  4. 20 AUG

    Noah’s unique European run, Djibouti’s power plant club & St. Kitts' three-legged final

    Part 1 is devoted to the UEFA club competition qualifying rounds. There’s penalty pandemonium in Poland and theNetherlands, an amazing achievement for Armenians Noah and a trio of clubs on the verge of becoming the first representatives from Andorra, Northern Ireland & Wales to reach a continental group. There’s also a word for the biggest and shortest European away days of the summer, football’s huge carbon footprint and two clubs with close links to the political leaders of their countries: Puskás Akadémia of Hungary & Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih of Ukraine. In Part 2, we turn our attentions to continental competitions in Africa, Asia & the Caribbean. We hear about Djiboutian club Arta Solar 7 in the CAF Champions League preliminaries and their takeover by a solar power company, find out whether Paul Watson will abscond to the Maldives to take charge of AFC Challenge League participants Maziya and learn why Haitian club America des Cayes did not turn up in Curacao for the CFU Caribbean Shield. There are also shirt giveaways for Village Superstars of St. Kitts & Nevis & the Chagos Islands national team. As per usual, you can join us for our next bonus episode if you don’t want to wait until Wednesday 4 September for another pod. That episode will be out on Wednesday 28 August and will take in some stories from the Nordic nations, including a collapsed goal and a blow torch in Iceland, an island club triumphing in the Danish Cup and the Swedish club with the most youth teams in Europe. We will also be sharing our own personal football bucket lists and telling you about an upcoming Q&A session for patrons on our Discord server. RUNNING ORDER: 00:00 – Intro 00:51 – UEFA qualifiers: Penalty pandemonium 07:32 – UEFA qualifiers: History-making hopefuls 11:11 – UEFA qualifiers: Epic away days 15:51 – UEFA qualifiers: Supportive statesmen 21:02 – San Marino & Nauru competition winners 22:38 – Africa: The space and weapons derbies 30:34 – Asia: Coaching vacancy in the Maldives 36:48 – Caribbean: America des Cayes' no-show 39:35 – St. Kitts & Nevis and Chagos Islands giveaways Join Sangalo's mailing list at the bottom of the homepage to enter the Village Superstars shirt competition: www.sangalo.com. Get yourself a Surprise Shirts mystery box at www.surpriseshirts.co.uk.

    46 min

  5. 6 AUG

    A Tongan World Cup dream, Greenland’s Disko Island & Olympic sprinter-footballers

    In Part 1, we bring you all the top stories from around the football world: Maikeli Lomu, an American with Tongan heritage, has sold his pottery studio in Utah and relocated to his ancestral homeland in pursuit of a World Cup dream. The 2024 edition of the Greenlandic Football Championship – the shortest season in world football at one week – is taking place on Disko Island off the west coast. And the FA Cup preliminary rounds are serving up some great stories, including the earliest goals in the history of the world’s oldest club competition. Then in Part 2 we turn our attentions to the men’s and women’s football tournaments at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris: the chaos and controversy between Argentina & Morocco, Canada’s spying scandal, the 6-5 thriller between Australia & Zambia, and the Malawian footballer-sprinter racing the 100 metres. There is also a selection of great listener emails, a competition to accompany the Sweeper team to San Marino vs. Liechtenstein in the UEFA Nations League and a giveaway for a limited-edition Nauru national team shirt. If you don’t want to hang on until Wednesday 21 August for another dose of world football goodness, then sign up to our Patreon at patreon.com/SweeperPod to get the bonus episodes. In the episode set for release on Wednesday 14 August, we talk about Japan legend Keisuke Honda’s one-match contract with Paro FC of Bhutan, Kuwaiti club Kazma’s phantom pre-season friendly, Libertad de Pirayu of Paraguay's trophy that disappeared from an open-top bus parade and Partick Thistle’s failed substitution due to accidentally cropped team sheet. RUNNING ORDER 00:00 - Intro 00:32 - The Football Cliches Quiz 02:01 - Tongan World Cup dreams 07:18 - The FA Cup preliminary rounds 13:25 - Disko Island in Greenland 18:53 - San Marino & Nauru competitions 24:24 - Olympics: Opening game outrage 28:45 - Olympics: Drone debacles 32:06 - Olympics: Goals galore 36:28 - Olympics: Sprinting strikers 38:51 - Listener emails Editor: Ralph Foster

    45 min

  6. 23 JUL

    A victorious Faroese village, 27th time lucky for La Fiorita & North Korea’s ‘Pariah Derby’

    In Part 1, we round up all the latest highlights from the UEFA club competition qualifying rounds. We talk about two villages of under 1,000 people in the Faroes & San Marino that claimed big European wins, the Slovenian keeper that went on a René Higuita-style dribble against Connah’s Quay Nomads of Wales and FC Copenhagen’s upcoming trip to face ‘pub team’ Bruno’s Magpies at a stadium overlooking the African coastline. That is followed in Part 2 by an announcement about a change to the podcast, which will return to its previously fortnightly rhythm. We then round off the episode by talking about the ‘Pariah Derby’ between the North Korean and Russian women’s teams and turn our attentions to pre-season friendlies: the pitch invaders at Rapid Vienna vs. AC Milan, Augsburg’s immigration disaster and a playground-style switch in Heilbronn. If you don’t want to wait until Wednesday 7 August for our next podcast, then join us on Patreon for our bonus podcasts. In the episode on Wednesday 31 July, we will examine the intriguing back stories of three promoted clubs from Eastern Europe, take a look at the Coupe de France action in St. Pierre & Miquelon and discuss the upcoming Milne Cup between Orkney & the Shetland Islands in Scotland. You can sign up at patreon.com/SweeperPod. RUNNING ORDER: 00:00 - Intro 00:38 - Victorious villages 04:52 - 27th time lucky for La Fiorita 11:38 - The NK Bravo keeper on the run 13:41 - Icelandic accumulator threats 15:19 - Pub team with a view of Africa 21:31 - Podcast frequency announcement 23:52 - North Korea's 'Pariah Derby' 29:22 - Rapid vs. Milan & pre-season friendlies Video of the NK Bravo goalkeeper on a run: x.com/FootballBurp/status/1814063958224978365 Editor: Ralph Foster

    39 min

  7. 16 JUL

    Pub team's European win, a mystery island coaching job & a Sweeper-sponsored team

    Part 1 is dedicated to the best part of the European football calendar: the UEFA club competition qualifying rounds. We chat about the Gibraltarian pub team that claimed a win in the Conference League, the victorious Polish and Romanian teams in the Europa League and the part-timers from the Faroe Islands excelling in the Champions League. In Part 2, we bring you a random mix of stories from across the football world: Paul has been offered a coaching job on a mystery island in the South Pacific, Thimphu City of Bhutan have come up with a great initiative to protect the white-bellied heron and The Sweeper has sponsored a football team for the first time at the Icarus Cup in the USA. Join us for Part 3 over on Patreon at patreon.com/SweeperPod to hear about the Brazilian policeman who fired a rubber bullet at a goalkeeper, an Anguillan side that allows their supporters a top-flight run-out and the Icelandic footballer presented with a bottle of champagne by a Fantasy Football Winner. RUNNING ORDER: 00:00 - Intro 00:40 - EURO 2024 disappointment 02:44 - Second-tier Corvinul's quirky situation 09:39 - UEFA win for pub team Bruno's Magpies 13:10 - San Marino, Wales & the Faroe Islands 19:38 - A mystery island coaching job for Paul 23:46 - Thimphu City's white-bellied heron initiative 30:50 - The first Sweeper-sponsored football team Buy your Sweeper-sponsored football shirt from the Icarus Cup: https://icarusfc.com/products/malmo?_pos=1&_psq=malmo&_ss=e&_v=1.0

    37 min

  8. 9 JUL

    Rooftop viewings in Vanuatu, Zivzivadze’s house-turned-hotel & an Eritrean on the move

    Part 1 is dedicated to the overachieving underdogs at the continental competitions taking place this summer: Canada at the Copa América, Vanuatu at the OFC Nations Cup and Georgia at the EUROs. Meanwhile, in Part 2, there is a rare move to a European club for an Eritrean player and an ex-Gibraltar international is jailed for drug dealing. Join us for Part 3 at patreon.com/SweeperPod as we round up some headlines from the home nations and bring you some spectacular transfer fails too. RUNNING ORDER: Intro - 00:00 Canada at the Copa América - 00:59 Vanuatu at the OFC Nations Cup - 07:58 Georgia at the EUROs - 14:36 Listener mails - 20:30 A rare Eritrean transfer to Europe - 24:02 Ex-Gibraltar international jailed - 28:13

    33 min
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About

Lee Wingate and Paul Watson explore the weird and wonderful world of football across FIFA’s 211 member states – and sometimes beyond. Join us once a fortnight as we round up the global football headlines with a touch of geography, politics, history, culture and food, plus a healthy dose of humour. Listen to our next episode on Wednesday 18 September 2024 or join us for a bonus podcast on Patreon on Wednesday 11 September. Sign up at patreon.com/SweeperPod.

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