The Sweeper - A World Football Podcast

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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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In Part 1, we round up all the latest highlights from the UEFA club competition qualifying rounds. We talk about two villages of under 1,000 people in the Faroes & San Marino that claimed big European wins, the Slovenian keeper that went on a René Higuita-style dribble against Connah’s Quay Nomads of Wales and FC Copenhagen’s upcoming trip to face ‘pub team’ Bruno’s Magpies at a stadium overlooking the African coastline.

That is followed in Part 2 by an announcement about a change to the podcast, which will return to its previously fortnightly rhythm. We then round off the episode by talking about the ‘Pariah Derby’ between the North Korean and Russian women’s teams and turn our attentions to pre-season friendlies: the pitch invaders at Rapid Vienna vs. AC Milan, Augsburg’s immigration disaster and a playground-style switch in Heilbronn.

If you don’t want to wait until Wednesday 7 August for our next podcast, then join us on Patreon for our bonus podcasts. In the episode on Wednesday 31 July, we will examine the intriguing back stories of three promoted clubs from Eastern Europe, take a look at the Coupe de France action in St. Pierre & Miquelon and discuss the upcoming Milne Cup between Orkney & the Shetland Islands in Scotland. You can sign up at patreon.com/SweeperPod.

RUNNING ORDER:

00:00 - Intro

00:38 - Victorious villages

04:52 - 27th time lucky for La Fiorita

11:38 - The NK Bravo keeper on the run

13:41 - Icelandic accumulator threats

15:19 - Pub team with a view of Africa

21:31 - Podcast frequency announcement

23:52 - North Korea's 'Pariah Derby'

29:22 - Rapid vs. Milan & pre-season friendlies

Video of the NK Bravo goalkeeper on a run: x.com/FootballBurp/status/1814063958224978365

Editor: Ralph Foster

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