The Sweeper - A World Football Podcast
The Sweeper - A World Football Podcast

The Sweeper - A World Football Podcast

Lee Wingate and Paul Watson

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Episodes

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Welcome to The Sweeper, the world football podcast made in association with FIFA+. Join Lee Wingate and Paul Watson every second Wednesday as they bring you the best headlines from across the football world and tell you the stories that you won't hear elsewhere.


Patreon: patreon.com/SweeperPod

Audio editing: Ralph Foster & Tom Middler

Graphic design: The Gentlemen Creatives



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recent Episodes

Romania's reality TV race, Australia's motorway trophy & the Marshall Islands' vanishing kit
FEB 18, 2025
Romania's reality TV race, Australia's motorway trophy & the Marshall Islands' vanishing kit

This episode is brought to you in association with FIFA+. Click here to get your free FIFA+ account and watch live football around the world: ⁠www.tinyurl.com/FIFAPlusSweeper

 

Send us an email to sweeperpod@gmail.com with some information about yourself and your preferences if you want us to handpick you a new football team to support.

 

Some brilliant stories from Europe and Asia await you in Part 1. A Romanian coach has temporarily left his league-leading side to join a televised race across Asia. But what other football personalities have taken part in bizarre reality TV shows? A Polish team has fallen victim to an unusual theft in Turkey. But what was stolen and how did they catch the perpetrator? And a goalkeeper in Senegal becomes only the second footballer to play professionally on all six continents. Who was the first – and why did he put a kidnapped penguin in his bathtub?

 

Up next in Part 2 are some headlines from Asia and Oceania. Australia’s longest-standing derby awards the winner a trophy made of concrete from the motorway that connects their two cities. There’s arguably an even stranger trophy Down Under, though. The Marshall Islands have launched their ‘No Home’ kit to draw awareness to climate change. But what was unusual about their social media unveiling? And football has returned to the remote Niue Island. If you are our one listener on the tiny Pacific island, please get in contact and let us know who you are!

 

Join us on Patreon to get our episodes early and ad-free & for the chance to win Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru and Niue shirts in our biggest-ever giveaway: www.patreon.com/SweeperPod.

 

RUNNING ORDER:


Chapter 1 – Intro

Chapter 2 – A Romanian reality TV race

Chapter 3 – An unusual theft in Turkey

Chapter 4 – André Krul’s six-continent career

Chapter 5 – Our #MyFIFA+Team initiative

Chapter 6 – Australia’s motorway trophy

Chapter 7 – The Marshall Islands’ vanishing kit

Chapter 8 – Football’s return to Niue Island


Editor: Ralph Foster



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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49 MIN
Ferencváros' ultras in disguise, HamKam 2’s AI coach & Burkina Faso’s bus-funded leaders
FEB 4, 2025
Ferencváros' ultras in disguise, HamKam 2’s AI coach & Burkina Faso’s bus-funded leaders

This episode is brought to you in association with FIFA+. Click here to get your free FIFA+ account and watch live football around the world: ⁠www.tinyurl.com/FIFAPlusSweeper

Part 1 is all about the final round of Europa League and Champions League action. How have Brest made the play-offs with an inexperienced coach and a shoestring budget? What does Fenerbahce boss José Mourinho have against the Danish town of Herning? Does Ryan Kent love his pet crocodiles more than his own family? How did the Ferencváros ultras disguise themselves for the visit of AZ Alkmaar? And what bold move did the German TV channel RTL+ make for Eintracht Frankfurt’s clash with Roma?

Part 2 is dedicated to artificial intelligence and transport. What happened when the HamKam reserves appointed an AI coach on a one-game basis? How is Iceland’s Football Manager tactician getting on at Vesturbæjar? What happens when you ask Chat GPT to script a Sweeper episode about football in space/Narnia? And how have a club funded by a former player’s bus company shot to the top of the table in Burkina Faso? For bonus episodes and heaps of extra content, check out our Patreon page at patreon.com/SweeperPod.

RUNNING ORDER:

00:00 – Intro

00:31 – Overachieving outsiders

07:33 – Church bells & crocodiles

13:14 – Jostles & jungles

17:26 – Blunders & backstroke

23:27 – HamKam 2’s AI coach

28:12 – KV’s Football Manager tactician

29:37 – Football in space & Narnia

35:26 – Rahimo FC’s bus-funded title tilt

Editor: Ralph Foster



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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43 MIN
Ascension Island’s tortoise troubles, Omonia’s fan-paid groceries & Lazio’s live-in falconer
JAN 21, 2025
Ascension Island’s tortoise troubles, Omonia’s fan-paid groceries & Lazio’s live-in falconer

There’s an island theme in Part 1. Starting with the return of football to Ascension Island, an isolated outpost in the Atlantic Ocean. It will be the second-most remote place to host football in the world – but what is the first?! Next up is Malta, where the only team in the pyramid from the neighbouring island of Gozo has made a 100% start to the season and the top flight has adopted a Latin American-style format. Our final stop in this segment is Cyprus, where Omonia Nicosia are preparing to face their breakaway rivals Omonia 29M.

 

Part 2 contains a selection of great stories from across the European continent. There are shocks in France and Portugal as top-flight teams are dumped out of the cup by amateur opponents. Lazio have sacked their falconer for posting inappropriate pictures online, but he is reportedly refusing to leave their Formello training ground – where he has lived for the past 15 years! And finally, the bizarre tale of North Korea’s short-lived friendly against Kosovan club SC Gjilani – and perhaps the craziest pre-match graphic that has ever been made!


Check out our new Patreon, which will go live on 1 February 2025

 

Listen to Cypriot football podcast 'This is Mappa'

 

RUNNING ORDER:

 

00:00 – Intro

01:21 – Ascension Island’s tortoise troubles

11:00 – Gozitans off to flying start in Malta

18:01 – Omonia Nicosia’s breakaway rivals

28:17 – Amateur cupsets across the continent

35:45 – The bizarre tale of Lazio’s falconer

41:03 – North Korea’s short-lived friendly

49:39 – The Sweeper's revamped Patreon

 

Editor: Ralph Foster



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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53 MIN
Balzers’ Internet fame, the world’s newest league & The Strongest’s Chocolate Party
JAN 7, 2025
Balzers’ Internet fame, the world’s newest league & The Strongest’s Chocolate Party

This episode is brought to you in association with FIFA+. Click here to get your free FIFA+ account and watch live football around the world: www.tinyurl.com/FIFAPlusSweeper

The Sweeper is back for the first episode of 2025 to round up all the world football headlines from over the Christmas and New Year period. Starting in Europe, where Balzers of Liechtenstein have gone from 1,000 to 400,000 Instagram followers almost overnight – but how have they achieved their stratospheric growth? In Portugal, Nacional’s Madeiran mist has wrought havoc yet again and Oliveirense have used milk to mark the goal-lines in the absence of paint. Finally, in Italy, we take a deep dive into the wonderful world of Serie C.

 

In the rest of the world, there are teething problems for the world’s newest top-flight league in the world’s newest country: South Sudan. In Bolivia, national giants The Strongest have resorted to an unusual measure to raise money for children in San Pedro prison in La Paz and the relegation/promotion play-off has come to the most dramatic of conclusions. And there’s a similar story over in Indonesia, where controversy reigns supreme after PSM Makassar missed the memo that the 12th man is supposed to be the fans and fielded an extra player.

 

For a bonus episode on Wednesday 15 January and plenty of other extra content, join us on Patreon at patreon.com/SweeperPod.

 

RUNNING ORDER

00:00 – Intro

02:02 – Balzers’ instant Internet fame

07:02 – Cult clubs and countries

08:54 – Madeiran mist & mainland milk

15:40 – The wonderful world of Serie C

25:55 – A Chocolate Party and a play-off

31:45 – Favourite sounding football fixtures

36:07 – The newest league on the planet

44:42 – A 12th man – but not the fans

Editor: Ralph Foster



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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50 MIN
Víkingur’s 13-month season, Vitória’s crazy Kazakh away day & a Career We Go quiz
DEC 24, 2024
Víkingur’s 13-month season, Vitória’s crazy Kazakh away day & a Career We Go quiz

Part 1 is all about the drama of the 2024/25 UEFA Conference League. Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iceland and Ireland have their first-ever representatives in a European knockout stage, Portugal’s Vitoria de Guimaraes set a new continental away day record, Omonia’s "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" coach is sacked & the reserves of English giants Chelsea run riot. To help us review the action, we have a panel of experts from across Europe: Andy Brassell from On The Continent in the UK, Hinrik Wöhler from Vísir in Iceland & Massimo Solari of Corriere del Ticino in Switzerland.   In Part 2, Lee and Paul have their world football knowledge put to the test by Joe McAuliffe of the excellent Career We Go football trivia podcast. Finally, we review our favourite stories, topics and trips of 2024 – from the Marítimo-Nacional derby on the island of Madeira to San Marino’s first win in 20 years over Liechtenstein in the UEFA Nations League – and look ahead to our plans for 2025. Finally, a big thank you from us to our editors, partners, collaborators, listeners and patrons. We wish you a happy Christmas & all the best for the new year!

Remember that if you don't want to wait until 8 January for your next dose of Sweeper goodness, you can sign up to our Patreon at patreon.com/SweeperPod and listen to our bonus podcast on New Year's Day. Becoming a member of our Patreon means you are supporting our independent journalism and getting access to a load of great content, such as bonus episodes, blogs, a weekly World Football Newsletter, access to our Discord server and entry into our football shirt giveaways. There are no contracts, no sign-up fees, no minimum stays and no advertisements.

Watch back our UEFA Conference League final matchday watch-along on ⁠X⁠ or ⁠Facebook⁠.

RUNNING ORDER:

00:00 – Intro

02:45 – Shamrock Rovers with Andy Brassell

08:06 – Conference League or Nations League?

10:26 – Víkingur Reykjavík with Hinrik Wöhler

14:38 – A trigger-happy Bosnian club president

17:50 – Lugano with Massimo Solari

23:44 – Crazy European away day records

27:25 – World football trivia with Career We Go

46:34 – Our best stories, matches & trips of 2024

Please leave us a rating or review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. It means a great deal to us and will make it easier for other potential listeners to discover our show. Thanks for your support!

Editor: Ralph Foster



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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50 MIN