The Sweeper

Co-hosts Lee Wingate & Paul Watson return to the virtual studio on their opposite sides of the Channel for another audio journey around the world of football in the space of 45 minutes, with extended Sweeper family member Tom Middler returning as producer.The football season may be winding down but that means it’s cup final time across the continent. Lee is preparing to travel to see the showpiece event in Liechtenstein between Balzers & Vaduz and hike to every stadium in the country the following day.The domestic cup round-up does not stop there, as the team talk about the second-tier outfit in the Luxembourg cup final, the first seventh-tier side to qualify for the Copa del Rey in 120 years & the pitch-invading toddler in Finland – the land of epic club names. Paul tells the story of North Macedonia’s record champions resorting to Crowdfunder, in a segment that also covers the three Belarusian sides involved in a match-fixing scandal and the club in San Marino holding try-outs for players.And finally, there are some feel-good stories: a 49-year-old goalkeeping coach keeps a clean sheet in the Faroes, Kecskemét are Europe’s best promoted club, an Italian coach calls his mum in a pitchside interview and Belenenses equal a world promotion record.RUNNING ORDER:PART 1 – Lee’s trip to Liechtenstein to attend the cup final (00:43); lower-league cup stories in Luxembourg, Spain and Finland (10:07)PART 2 – Clubs in a spot of bother: North Macedonia, Belarus and San Marino (17:44)PART 3 – Feel-good stories: the Faroe Islands, Hungary, Italy and Portugal (32:46) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the majority of the European seasons nearing a conclusion and the 12 summer leagues now up and running, there is plenty for hosts Lee Wingate & Paul Watson to sink their teeth into on the latest edition of The Sweeper.Having revealed his tentative plans to become a sporting director at a sixth-division Italian club, Paul is reminded of his claim that he could beat Man Utd defender Axel Tuanzebe's Guinness World Record for clearing a Hungry Hippos board in 17.36 seconds & is challenged by Lee to a quiz about unlikely world records held by football players.The remainder of the opening segment is dedicated to the Iberian peninsula, with a chat about the former pub team that won Gibraltar's Rock Cup followed by a look at the Spanish side that have lost every game for 11 years and conceded over 4,000 goals in the process.Part two delves deeper into off-the-pitch matters such as Viktor Orbán's financial backing for football clubs outside of Hungary, Fortuna Düsseldorf's free ticket pilot project and the Brazilian club that have named themselves after now-disbanded Ukrainian outfit Mariupol.Last but not least, the team metaphorically sprint around the continent rounding up all the premature title-winners, champions-elect, unlikely promotion contenders and surprise relegations, before revealing their plans for the show over the summer.RUNNING ORDER:PART 1 - Paul's plans to become an Italian club's sporting director & the Guinness World Record quiz (00:42); stories from the Iberian peninsula (06:39); Surprise Shirts read-out (13:30)PART 2 - Off the pitch stories: soft power in Hungary, free tickets in Germany, an away crowd of one in South Korea & a renamed club in Brazil (15:58)PART 3 - A round-up of all the champions, promotion battles and relegation dogfights across Europe (30:48) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosts Lee Wingate & Paul Watson return to the virtual studio for another episode of The Sweeper - the show that goes further and wider than any other football podcast out there.Beer is the recurring theme in the opening segment, where Paul tells the story of the Polish referees that allegedly got drunk on a flight to Greece & Lee laughs at the Croatian coach who made his players train at 1 in the morning after getting home from an away game.We then have a brief chat with Louis Jones from our sponsor Surprise Shirts, before embarking upon a whistlestop tour of the globe that sees us cover headlines from Bhutan, Pakistan, Tunisia, Australia and China.In the final segment, we talk about some of the very best and worst-performing teams in the entire world this season - from the Outer Hebridean side with a wonky pitch that won 16-1 at the weekend to the Greek team that kept having their points deductions overturned.RUNNING ORDER:PART 1 - Lee's upcoming trip to San Marino (00:52); European round-up: Netherlands, Poland, Greece, Croatia & Wales (04:10)PART 2 - A chat with Louis Jones from Surprise Shirts (15:36); global football round-up: Bhutan, Pakistan, Tunisia, Australia, China (19:43)PART 3 - A look at the very best & worst teams in the world this season (29:55) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Sweeper crew return to review and reflect upon the standout stories from across the 55 UEFA countries & beyond in late March and early April.Paul looks back on his memorable trips to Alderney and San Marino, who are on some of the longest winless streaks in world football, while Lee waxes lyrical about Kazakhstan and shares two notable stories from Gibraltar.There's an excellent April Fool's Day joke by the Norwegian FA, a look at the wacky world of Welsh football, some contenders for the worst club of the season in Italy and St. Kitts & Nevis, and a duo of Dutch pitch invaders.Last but not least, we introduce our new sponsor Surprise Shirts and review some of the stand-out promotion contenders across Europe - including Russian exclave club Baltika Kaliningrad, recently turned pros Queen's Park of Scotland and Northern Irish village team Loughgall.RUNNING ORDER:PART 1 - International round-up: Alderney, San Marino, Sint Maarten, Kazakhstan & Gibraltar (00:53)PART 2 - April Fool's jokes, savage scorelines & Dutch pitch invaders (18:54)PART 3 - An introduction to Surprise Shirts (30:35); standout promotion contenders across Europe (33:53) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the latest instalment of The Sweeper, studio sidekicks Lee Wingate and Paul Watson cast the net far and wide to round up all the niche global football action in the first half of March.Paul reflects on his time as the world's youngest international manager (sort of) and the dormant plans to bring his remote adventure to the big screen, while Lee tries to get to grips with Europe's most bizarre league format in Moldova.There's a comical touchline moment in Serie B, a historical hiding in Holland, an amazing accomplishment for Violette of Haiti and some superb sh*thousery in the fourth round of the Norwegian cup.With two leagues already concluded, there's also some chat about the champions in Gibraltar and Malta, plus a review of all the clubs across Europe on course to claim their first-ever top-flight title.RUNNING ORDER:PART 1 - The world's youngest international manager & the Micro Cup (01:14)PART 2 - Weird, wacky & wonderful across the world (14:56)PART 3 - Premature champions & tantalising title races (34:24) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosts Lee Wingate and Paul Watson round up all the quirky, random and bizarre news and stories from across the 55 UEFA countries and beyond in the second half of February.Unperturbed by the foiled coup in their country, Sheriff Tiraspol become the first Moldovan club to reach the last 16 of a European competition, while Lech Poznań end a 32-year wait for Poland, Belgian clubs enjoy some penalty shootout success and there is a truly horrendous own goal in Denmark.Sion are in the spotlight after their 56th manager of the century is placed on gardening leave, Zdeněk Zeman returns to the coaching fold at Pescara and Luxembourg's league leaders are locked in a fierce dispute with the FA & UEFA over a potential BeNeLux league.Then there's a scandal in Somalia, an amazing achievement for Haiti's women, all the latest from the domestic cups in Sweden & Argentina, and a round-up of the Oceania Champions League preliminaries.RUNNING ORDER: PART 1 - Europa League & Europa Conference League chat (01:14)PART 2 - Coaching chaos across the continent (10:56)PART 3 - Global round-up: Africa, Central & South America in focus (26:19) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More of the European football stories you won't hear elsewhere from the first half of February - but this time there's a twist: The Sweeper goes global for the first time.Hosts Lee and Paul Watson discuss their most memorable football experiences in Enfield and Győr respectively, before switching the focus to the tragic earthquake in Türkiye and its impact on the Süper Lig.Japan legend Kazu Miura rocks up at second-tier Oliveirense in Portugal aged 55 - but is he the oldest professional player currently active in Europe? Meanwhile, prisoners are allowed out to catch a Romanian top-flight match and a sponsor steps in in Belgium to prevent a controversial coaching appointment.Domestic cups are reaching crunch time across Europe - and there are updates from Northern Ireland, Austria, the Netherlands and England, including another story involving fish football mascots!Last but not least, there is a first-ever venture to other continents with the net cast as far as Argentina in the south-west to Hong Kong in the north-east, with stops off in Liberia and the British Virgin Islands on the way.RUNNING ORDER:PART 1 - Memorable live football experiences (01:35); the impact of the earthquake in Türkiye on the Süper Lig (08:52)PART 2 - Weird and wacky stories from across Europe (15:09)PART 3 - Cup chaos across the continent (24:04)PART 4 - The Sweeper goes global (35:09) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After 18 months in the podcast wilderness, The Sweeper is back - with the new-look team of Lee Wingate and Paul Watson getting their teeth stuck straight into the quirkiest stories European football has to offer.The first Solomon Islander to ever sign a professional contract in Europe pens a deal in Bosnia, while a club president in Malta contemplates resignation in order to register himself as a player.Cosmos go from bottom last season to top of the pile this term in San Marino - but what's been their secret? Meanwhile, Swift Hesperange of Luxembourg are Europe's only unbeaten side, and there is news from the lower reaches of the French and Italian top flights too.Across the domestic cups, Israel's Maccabi Netanya remarkably win a trophy without scoring a goal, second-tier Pas de la Casa make waves in the Andorran Cup and Barcelona's Copa del Rey opponents Ceuta get a new mascot: 'Caballati' the mackerel.RUNNING ORDER:PART 1 - Introduction to the new hosts and our first stories (00:50)PART 2 - The leagues making headlines across UEFA (14:38)PART 3 - Cup runs, triumphs & geopolitics (29:30) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lee talks to Matt Walker about five more of the countries on his spectacular continental football journey. This time Lithuania, Latvia, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan are up for discussion; including stories of a taxi ride with a former international, some Kim Jong-Un masks on show in Ireland, and a serious chat about whether the Baltic leagues might fold. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Sweeper is back after a short EURO break! Lee & Tom talk about the tournament just gone, before pushing the boundaries of UEFA's leagues with a virtual visit to Greenland where we spoke to FA boss Finn Meinel, as well as prominent coach Tekle Ghebrelul. We then called in Richard D Pike (@RichDPike89) to discuss the brand new UEFA Europa Conference League, how it all works, and how it could affect European football going forward. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.