The Sweeper

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)

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)

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.

The next monthly dose of our series with Matt Walker, who talks to Lee Wingate about his mission to watch a football match in all 55 UEFA countries within one season.

On the agenda this time are countries 6-10: Finland, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Russia & Belarus.

For more on Matt’s travels, check out his book “EUROPE UNITED”, which is OUT NOW!

The Sweeper podcast returns with another monthly dose of drama from Europe's 55 most lovable leagues! This month we have an abundance of late season stories with heroes and villains, surprise squad inclusions, and of course our main features; the astounding EURO triumphs of Denmark & Greece, and the Bulgarian champions who just keep on winning! Hosted by Lee Wingate & Tom Middler, featuring interviews with George Tsitsonis, Sebastian Stanbury and Metodi Shumanov.