The Sweeper

The Sweeper crew have been going viral on social media recently. Paul Watson proposed a World Cup for the 32 worst-ranked countries in the world on Twitter – and it turns out a lot of people want to see it! Paul explains in Part 1 how it might work and who might win it, before the discussion turns to Pakistan and which countries might be the first to be eliminated from 2026 World Cup qualifying.In Part 2, fellow host Lee Wingate talks about his recent travels across Austria – first as the pitchside English-language stadium announcer mere metres away from Jürgen Klopp at the LASK-Liverpool Europa League match and then at the hotly anticipated cup clash between Red Bull Salzburg and Austria Salzburg, the team they bought in a controversial takeover 18 years ago.Finally, in Part 3, the team round up the remaining stories from across Europe. There’s an intriguing derby in Spanish North Africa as the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla go head-to-head, while a 45-year-old Slovakian keeper faces his son in the final match of his career. There’s also a word for second-tier Lithuanian cup winners Transinvest and a brilliant micro-nation-related email from a listener.RUNNING ORDER:Part 1 - The 'Worst World Cup', San Marino's chances, Zealand's simulations & a word on Pakistan (00:38)Part 2 - Travels in Austria: Life as a Europa League stadium announcer and the crunch cup tie in Salzburg (22:18)Part 3 - The enclave derby in Spanish North Africa & the Slovakian father and son in opposite goals (37:16) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sweeper co-hosts Lee Wingate & Paul Watson have (quite literally) gone to the ends of the earth for this episode, Part 1 of which kicks off with a trip to Antarctica - where a Belgian-backed micronation has launched its own football team to mark its 15th anniversary - and continues with a look at the representative from St. Pierre & Miquelon that travelled 4,000km to the French mainland to play a cup tie.The unique away day theme continues in Part 2 as we look at quirky geographical features that some fans have to navigate to get to away games: there's an undersea roundabout in the Faroe Islands, a bridge that bypasses Bosnia on the Adriatic Coast and a Swiss stadium that requires two cable cars to reach. We then talk about the La Liga squad that missed their flight and read some more of your e-mails about former footballers who have gone into politics.It's all about stupid stories in Part 3. The annual Costa Rican mascot race ends in victory for Lula the cow - or is it Gary? - and a wealthy businessman pays £17,500 for his 22-year-old son to get 10 minutes of game time in the Czech third tier. Finally, Paul recaps a memorable bonus podcast and we look ahead to some exciting stories from Wales and the USA for next time.RUNNING ORDER:Part 1 - The Antarctic micronation with a football team & island time in the Coupe de France (00:50)Part 2 - Unusual European away days, missed flights in La Liga & former footballers who have gone into politics (17:03)Part 3 - The epic Costa Rican mascot race & the Czech father who paid big money for his son to play (31:52)The Costa Rican mascot race:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-uUWC-_RVI Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time for another episode of The Sweeper with co-hosts Lee Wingate & Paul Watson, who has penned the first chapter of his sequel to the hit book 'Up Pohnpei' - all about his adventures in Micronesian football. We talk all about it in Part 1 of this episode, before discussing the Indonesian team travelling in a tank and the Slovenian club president scoring goals in a desperate situation.Part 2 starts off with a couple of stories from Sweden: lower-league Torns IF have discovered a loophole in the offside rule, while AIK supporters are telling police where to hit them with batons. Ladders (but no snakes) are being thrown around in France, while an Austrian club president is making headlines for handing out cash to quench fans' thirst - at a game Lee attended live.Finally, in Part 3, we expand our focus to cover the whole continent: there's a preview of the European group stages and the biggest away days faced by the 96 teams in question, plus a look ahead to the international break and the chances Kazakhstan, Luxembourg and Moldova have of making it to EURO 2024.RUNNING ORDER:Part 1: The sequel to 'Up Pohnpei', the Indonesian team travelling in a tank & the Slovenian club president scoring goals (00:46)Part 2: Offside rule loopholes and baton-wielding police in Sweden, snakes and ladders in France & drinks for the fans in Austria (17:01)Part 3: The biggest away days in the European group phase & a look ahead to the international fixtures (32:18)VIDEO: The loophole to the offside rule discovered by Torns IF:https://www.theguardian.com/football/video/2023/aug/30/swedish-third-tier-team-torns-if-find-offside-rule-loophole-video Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Located at the intersection of Europe and North America, Greenland boasts the unique selling point of having the shortest season in world football - at one week long. The first part of the latest episode of 'The Sweeper' sees presenter Lee Wingate talk all about the 2023 Greenlandic Football Championship with co-host Paul Watson, who reflects on his own journey to Nuuk seven summers ago.Part 2 kicks off with a shout-out for KÍ Klaksvík & Zrinjski Mostar, the first-ever clubs from the Faroe Islands and Bosnia & Herzegovina to reach a European group phase. We talk about the KÍ player selling frozen pizzas, the prize money that comes with qualification and also speak about Raków's insane rise from the Polish third division to the brink of the Champions League in the space of a few years.Finally, in Part 3, it's time for some silly refereeing stories, starting in Latvia with the drunk refs whose dodgy decisions saw them breathalysed by police and finishing with the Fred Perry polo shirt-wearing fan who stepped in to run the line in Portsmouth's match against Cheltenham. There's also a look at the revolt against Samuel Eto'o in Cameroon & a plug for our brilliant bonus episodes.RUNNING ORDER:Part 1: The 2023 Greenlandic Football Championship & our own visit to watch the world's shortest football season (00:44)Part 2: A first for the Faroes and Bosnia & Herzegovina, plus the remarkable rise of Raków to the brink of Europe's top table (15:25)Part 3: Drunk Latvian refs, the stand-in linesman wearing gold boots & a revolt against Samuel Eto'o in Cameroon (30:42) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who needs the European group stages? It's clearly all about the qualifying rounds - and with a major milestone for the Faroe Islands, notable results for Andorra and Malta, and a number of other captivating storylines across the continent, there's plenty for co-hosts Lee Wingate & Paul Watson to get stuck into on this episode of The Sweeper.In Part 1, Lee & Paul start off by talking (once again) about team of the moment KÍ Klaksvík and another headline from the Nordic nations: the Icelandic youngster whose hat-trick knocked his father out of the Champions League. Then there's a crazy game in Kosovo with 23 minutes of added time, a landmark for Santa Coloma of Andorra & a look at the eight countries that have never had a group-stage representative.Then, in Part 2, we turn our attentions to the state of limbo facing the Afghanistan women's team, the curious case of a raccoon that fell through a US press box ceiling, the Greenlandic team missing the Championship to go on a reindeer hunt and an Austrian derby that has been 18 years in the making as Austria Salzburg are drawn against Red Bull Salzburg - the club that bought them out back in 2005.RUNNING ORDER:Part 1 - The European qualifying rounds: Faroese magic, father-son battles & stoppage time madness (00:44)Part 2 - The Afghan women's team, Greenlandic reindeer hunts, raccoons in the US press box and a spicy Salzburg derby (18:40) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Sweeper crew have been to Liechtenstein and San Marino in recent months – but the 26,000km round-trip to Micronesia was by far our biggest off-the-beaten-track football adventure. Having now overcome the jetlag, Paul has the full story on the Pacific nation’s first-ever futsal tournament and its newly assembled Football Association.Part 1 sees us reflect on Paul’s past in Micronesia as the world's youngest international football coach, the Twitter DM from Kenny that changed everything, the tournament format, the lost suitcase of futsal shoes, Kosrae’s controversial path to the final, Yap’s victory, the trophy flown in from Guam, an emergency wood carving and much more besides.Then, in Part 2, we talk about the establishment of an FA, the constitution that Paul wrote on the plane, the importance of futsal to Micronesia’s football strategy and whether the AFC or the OFC offers the likeliest route to membership in a FIFA Confederation. Lastly, we chat about the upcoming sequel to Paul’s popular book “Up Pohnpei” and where you can read it.Finally, in Part 3, it’s time for our usual European football round-up. Faroese side KÍ Klaksvík pull off a huge shock in the Champions League qualifiers, Glentoran and Gżira United play out the highest-scoring penalty shootout in UEFA history, there’s a night to remember for Andorra and two Crimean clubs are incorporated into the Russian football pyramid.RUNNING ORDER:Part 1 – The first-ever Micronesian futsal tournament: the Twitter DM that changed everything, Kosrae’s controversial path to the final & Yap’s victory (00:45)Part 2 – The first-ever Micronesian futsal tournament: the establishment of an FA, routes to membership in a FIFA Confederation & the sequel to “Up Pohnpei” (20:23)Part 3 – The European football round-up: KÍ Klaksvík’s UCL upset, the highest-scoring shootout in UEFA history & the contested fate of two Crimean clubs (33:48) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You might think there's not much going on in the football world at the height of summer - but there are in fact plenty of talking points to be explored by Sweeper co-hosts Lee Wingate & Paul Watson, who is recording the pod ahead of his mammoth 60-hour, 13,229km journey from London to Micronesia to watch the nation's first-ever futsal tournament.Part 1 is dedicated to our very favourite part of the European football calendar: the qualifying rounds for the UEFA club competitions. We discuss the biggest away days, the first-time participants, the clubs from outside the top flight involved and a chance encounter with the Borac Banja Luka director at a Balkan wedding.The next segment looks ahead to the latest edition of the biennial Island Games, which will see islands ranging from Greenland (the largest in the world) to St. Helena (one of the most remote on the planet & the place Napoleon was exiled to) compete in a football tournament held on the Channel Island of Guernsey this July.Last up, we show some love for the summer leagues: the only two top-flight clubs in Europe based in the Arctic Circle are dominating Norway's Eliteserien, KÍ Klaksvík are chasing the almost-impossible feat of a perfect season and there's an update on the punishments handed out to the Belarusian trio that were involved in match-fixing.RUNNING ORDER:PART 1 - The European club competition qualifying rounds: debutants, lower-league clubs, banned teams, away days & a Balkan wedding (00:44)PART 2 - The Island Games in Guernsey: the history, the participants, the frontrunners, the sponsor and the future of the tournament (16:19)PART 3 - Summer leagues: Arctic Circle superiority in Norway, a potential perfect season in the Faroes & the aftermath of the Belarusian betting scandal (28:53) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The club season might be over in 42 UEFA countries, but co-hosts Lee Wingate and Paul Watson have plenty of stand-out international headlines to work their way through on the latest episode of The Sweeper, which was edited by Tom Middler.The first segment of the pod is dedicated to Lee's trip to see San Marino, who extended their unwanted world-record winless run to 130 games against Kazakhstan in Parma - despite giving a pretty impressive account of themselves in the first half.The next segment covers the other major talking points from the international period, including Moldova's stunning comeback win against Poland, Luxembourg's first back-to-back EURO qualifying victories since 1995 & a series of stunning records set by Andorran legend Ildefons Lima.Next up is our main story for this episode, the treble achieved by OPBG in the Vatican, before we turn our attentions to the man on Interpol's wanted list who submitted takeover bids in Belgium and St. Kitts & Nevis' qualification for the Gold Cup. There's also an honourable mention for Father Ted, Craig Bellamy and the Eurovision Song Contest.RUNNING ORDERPART 1 - Lee's visit to Parma to see San Marino & the Kazakh fan that travelled 5,000km only to be denied entry (00:44)PART 2 - The big headlines from the international period: Moldova's success, Luxembourg's upturn & Ildefons Lima's records (17:46)PART 3 - A Vatican treble for the Children's Hospice, a suspicious takeover attempt or four in Belgium & St. Kitts & Nevis at the GoldCup (32:37) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lee Wingate and Paul Watson return with some more tales of football off the beaten track, including some live experiences on opposite sides of the globe, a quirky football geography segment and some of their favourite other stories from across the European continent.Lee kicks off the first segment with the remarkable story of Austrian club GAK, whose meteoric rise from the eighth to the first tier in the space of a decade was ruined in the last second by Mario Balotelli's haircut twin, before Paul previews his trip to Micronesia to watch the nation's first futsal tournament and discusses his feelings about spending 60 hours on a plane.Next up is the geography section: the extraordinary tale of a Mongolian footballer & Man Utd fan who is cycling from his yurt in Ulaanbaatar to Old Trafford, the new contenders for the biggest away days in top-flight European football and the closest stadiums to an international land border across the continent's top 20 leagues. The two co-hosts then take on another challenge from Surprise Shirts to see if they can identify a mystery football jersey.In the final section, Paul & Lee discuss an Ajaccio player’s embarrassing end to an away trip to Lens, Polish side Ruch Chorzow’s unique rollercoaster ride since 2017 and an exciting new (and young) addition to the 15-team league in San Marino.RUNNING ORDER:PART 1 - Lee's visit to Dornbirn for the promotion party that went wrong & Paul's preview of Micronesia's first-ever futsal tournament (00:40)PART 2 - Football geography: intercontinental bike rides, the biggest top-flight away days next season & border football stadiums (15:36); the Surprise Shirts mystery jersey guessing game (29:37)PART 3 - The best of the rest: Ajaccio in France, Ruch Chorzów in Poland & San Marino Academy in...San Marino (34:16) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pod duo Lee Wingate and Paul Watson are back with another carefully curated batch of weird and wonderful stories from across the football world, with Tom Middler returning to the virtual studio to produce the episode. Lee reflects on his trip to Liechtenstein’s Cup Final - where FC Vaduz unsurprisingly win a world-record 49th domestic cup - and his subsequent 50km hike through the hills to see all seven football stadiums in the micro-state in the space of 24 hours.Promotions and relegations are on the agenda next: there is a premature pitch invasion or two in Germany, a mistimed open-top bus parade in Luxembourg, a calamitous stadium inauguration in Romania and a European berth for Arsenal – the one in Montenegro, of course!That is followed by a look at Europe’s biggest top-flight away day in Kazakhstan, a disastrous own goal in Lithuania and an amusing misspelling in the British Virgin Islands. The team then conclude by revealing more details about their upcoming Patreon launch.RUNNING ORDER:PART 1 – Lee’s lookback at the Liechtenstein Cup Final & his misjudged micro-state stadium hike (00:47)PART 2 – Bizarre tales of promotions & relegations: Germany, Luxembourg, Romania & Montenegro (14:28)PART 3 – Away days, own goals & misspellings: Kazakhstan, Lithuania & the British Virgin Islands (36:33) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.