Robinhood’s Caribbean double, Pontypridd’s 141-point deduction & a Herculean effort against Ajax

12/26/23 • 52 min

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The final Sweeper episode of 2023 starts off with a look at continental competitions across the world in Part 1. We talk about the CONCACAF Champions Cup with its incredible away trips and interesting array of clubs – from Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami to Robinhood of Suriname, who have won a Caribbean double this year – and the AFC Champions League, where Ventforet Kofu of Japan have sensationally become the first second-division club to ever reach the knockout stages.

Part 2 kicks off with a chat about Welsh club Pontypridd United’s unprecedented 141-point deduction and the heaviest punishments in football history, before taking a look at Ajax’s historic elimination from the KNVB Cup at the hands of fourth-tier amateurs Hercules. Finally, we finish off the segment by talking about the biggest cupsets we have seen personally – Bristol City for Paul & FC Vaduz for Lee – and our brilliant sponsor Momento. You can download the Momento app for free via the link below and follow us @SweeperPod.

It’s all about winter weather in Part 3. The first item on the agenda is Greenland’s traditional New Year’s Eve football match, which is played in temperatures of -15 degrees, followed by the unique story of FC Santa Claus, the Christmas-themed club based in Lapland whose motto is ‘Don’t stop believing’. Finally, there’s yet another mention for Sicilians Trapani and a thank-you message from the team to all the lovely listeners and patrons who have joined the Sweeper party since we relaunched the podcast in early 2023.

Download Momento for free on iOS and Android: ⁠acmomento.onelink.me/ckkf/SweeperPod

RUNNING ORDER:

Part 1: The CONCACAF Champions Cup, Robinhood’s Caribbean double & Ventforet Kofu’s run to the knockouts (00:40)

Part 2: Pontypridd United’s 141-point deduction, a Herculean effort against Ajax & our biggest cupsets (17:29)

Part 3: Greenland’s New Year’s Eve football match, the Christmas-themed club in Lapland & some windy weather in Sicily (36:07)

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

Download Momento for free on iOS and Android: ⁠acmomento.onelink.me/ckkf/SweeperPod

RUNNING ORDER:

Part 1: The CONCACAF Champions Cup, Robinhood’s Caribbean double & Ventforet Kofu’s run to the knockouts (00:40)

Part 2: Pontypridd United’s 141-point deduction, a Herculean effort against Ajax & our biggest cupsets (17:29)

Part 3: Greenland’s New Year’s Eve football match, the Christmas-themed club in Lapland & some windy weather in Sicily (36:07)

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

Previous Episode

The Belgian Cup arcade claw draw, Turkmenistan’s debutant champions & the Botafogo bottle job in Brazil

Download Momento: acmomento.onelink.me/ckkf/SweeperPod

Once we found out that the draw for the Belgian Cup quarter-finals was conducted using a former footballer and an arcade claw machine, there was nowhere else we were going to start this episode. But domestic cup competitions across Europe have produced plenty of other notable stories over the past fortnight too, including another Bundesliga scalp for third-tier Saarbrücken in the DFB-Pokal, Copa del Rey elimination at the hands of fourth-division sides for Almería and Cadíz, and some unlikely Coupe de France victories for Caribbean clubs. And there’s also some love for our brand-new sponsor Momento to round off Part 1.

Part 2 begins in Costa Rica, where the women’s team claimed an unlikely 19-0 victory over St. Kitts & Nevis to beat Haiti to qualification for the Gold Cup, before moving onto Monday night’s controversial incident in Türkiye, where a brutal assault on referee Halil Umut Meler by the Ankaragücü president Faruk Koca has led to all football in the country being suspended indefinitely. We then turn our attentions to Saudi Arabia, where an unfortunate defender gave away one of the weirdest penalties you will ever see when he tried to high-five his goalkeeper but ended up touching the ball instead.

Finally, in Part 3, we discuss a team in Turkmenistan that won the league but probably shouldn’t have and a Brazilian club that probably should have won the championship but did not. That’s right: it’s the stories of Arkadag, the team newly founded by former dictator Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov that have won the title without dropping a point in their debut season, and Botafogo, who have completed one of the most spectacular bottle jobs in football history to throw away what would have been their first Serie A title since 1995. There’s also a mention for Pele, our Patreon and some of the stupidest Guinness world records in existence.

RUNNING ORDER:

Part 1: The Croky Cup arcade claw draw, Rod Stewart’s legendary Scottish Cup cameo and Caribbean success stories in the Coupe de France (00:48)

Part 2: Goals galore for the Costa Rican women, a Turkish football meltdown in the Süper Lig and the weirdest penalty of all time in Saudi Arabia (17:18)

Part 3: The brand-new club from a brand-new city, Turkmenistan’s bizarre world records and Botafogo’s spectacular bottle job (35:18)

The Croky Cup arcade claw draw: www.youtube.com/live/KAbc8zn_BqI?si=gDtsalyNRrnpSkUR

John Oliver on Turkmenistan: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9QYu8LtH2E&t=1088s

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Next Episode

Azeri cakes & coaches, football’s final frontier in the Pacific & the Livonian League

The first Sweeper episode of 2024 kicks off with some Azerbaijan anecdotes in Part 1. We discuss Adrian Mutu’s harsh sacking and some tasty treats from Turan Tovuz. From Mutu we switch to another ex-Premier League player in Pascal Chimbonda and his antics in charge of ninth-tier English side Skelmersdale. Finally, we talk about the Vatican City where registration is open for the league season in the world’s smallest country - but not just anyone can take part.

In Part 2 we go remote and delve into the story of Nauru’s newly launched Football Association trying to bring the beautiful game to one of the last countries on Earth without a football team. Relative neighbours, Federated States of Micronesia are trying to fund a match in 2024 by selling football shirts and we explain how you can get hold of one and how some lucky Sweeper patrons can win one. We then stay remote as we look at Anders Hofman, the star of Project Iceman who completed an Ironman-style triathlon in Antarctica, and his next crazy quest to try and play for Denmark at the 2026 World Cup.

Part 3 is all about cup competitions. We investigate the new Livonian League - a pre-season winter tournament for teams from Latvia and Estonia. Then we look at how underdogs have fared in the Copa del Rey, Coupe de France and FA Cup, plus we hear the greatest herring-related football story of all time.

You can download the Momento app for free on iOS or Android via the link below and follow us @SweeperPod: ⁠acmomento.onelink.me/ckkf/SweeperPod

RUNNING ORDER:Part 1: Cakes and coach sackings in Azerbaijan, the English club both top and bottom & the Vatican's player requirements (00:43)Part 2: Football's final frontier in Nauru and Micronesia & the Iceman of Antarctica targeting World Cup 2026 (18:28)Part 3: The Livonian League, Arandina's shirt request, herring-based goal bonuses in France & our trip to Madeira (36:21)

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