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...

With overseas territories from all over the world taking part, the Coupe de France is one of the world’s most intriguing domestic football competitions. But who funds it? How do they decide who plays home and away? And could an overseas side play in a UEFA competition if they won the tournament. In Part 1, co-hosts Lee Wingate and Paul Watson answer all the key questions about the French Cup and reflect on their recent journey to the sleepy rural town of Saint-Mesmin to watch sixth-tier...

The Nordic nations served up tension, drama and excitement in abundance at the weekend as several titles were decided by the narrowest of margins. The Swedish men’s and women’s titles came down to goal difference, as did a bonkers goal-laden battle for promotion in the Norwegian third tier. That got co-hosts Lee Wingate and Paul Watson racking their brains about the closest title races in history in Part 1, with England, Azerbaijan and Austria all getting a mention. As do Sexy Pants, who have...

KÍ Klaksvík have been the European football story of the season since they became the first club from the Faroe Islands to reach the group stages of a UEFA competition. But they didn’t stop there and have since followed up a draw at home to 2021 Ligue 1 winners Lille with a famous victory over Olimpija Ljubljana. Daniel Storey, the chief football writer at the i and a regular panelist on The Totally Football Show, was in the Faroes to witness the historic moment and joins us in Part 1 to tell...

With another week packed full of international action in Europe, Asia and beyond, plus a selection of splendid club football stories and some superb listener emails, co-hosts Lee Wingate and Paul Watson once again had plenty of niche football talking points to dig their teeth into on the latest episode of the Sweeper Podcast. And that was before San Marino sent Football Twitter into meltdown by scoring their first competitive goal in more than two years against 18th-ranked Denmark, forcing...

The Sweeper crew have been going viral on social media recently. Paul Watson proposed a World Cup for the 32 worst-ranked countries in the world on Twitter – and it turns out a lot of people want to see it! Paul explains in Part 1 how it might work and who might win it, before the discussion turns to Pakistan and which countries might be the first to be eliminated from 2026 World Cup qualifying. In Part 2, fellow host Lee Wingate talks about his recent travels across Austria – first as the...

Sweeper co-hosts Lee Wingate & Paul Watson have (quite literally) gone to the ends of the earth for this episode, Part 1 of which kicks off with a trip to Antarctica - where a Belgian-backed micronation has launched its own football team to mark its 15th anniversary - and continues with a look at the representative from St. Pierre & Miquelon that travelled 4,000km to the French mainland to play a cup tie. The unique away day theme continues in Part 2 as we look at quirky geographical...

It's time for another episode of The Sweeper with co-hosts Lee Wingate & Paul Watson, who has penned the first chapter of his sequel to the hit book 'Up Pohnpei' - all about his adventures in Micronesian football. We talk all about it in Part 1 of this episode, before discussing the Indonesian team travelling in a tank and the Slovenian club president scoring goals in a desperate situation. Part 2 starts off with a couple of stories from Sweden: lower-league Torns IF have discovered a...

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...

Who needs the European group stages? It's clearly all about the qualifying rounds - and with a major milestone for the Faroe Islands, notable results for Andorra and Malta, and a number of other captivating storylines across the continent, there's plenty for co-hosts Lee Wingate & Paul Watson to get stuck into on this episode of The Sweeper. In Part 1, Lee & Paul start off by talking (once again) about team of the moment KÍ Klaksvík and another headline from the Nordic nations: the...

Hello listeners, To give you a glimpse of what our bonus podcasts are like, we've posted the second segment of this week's episode on our main feed for a limited time only. We talk a little bit about the Fenix Trophy (a kind of Champions League for non-league clubs), some high-scoring pre-season friendlies and a challenge issued to San Marino by Durham AFC of all clubs. This bonus pod sample will be available to listen to for a 48-hour period only - until 8:00 CET on Sunday. To get more...

The Sweeper crew have been to Liechtenstein and San Marino in recent months – but the 26,000km round-trip to Micronesia was by far our biggest off-the-beaten-track football adventure. Having now overcome the jetlag, Paul has the full story on the Pacific nation’s first-ever futsal tournament and its newly assembled Football Association. Part 1 sees us reflect on Paul’s past in Micronesia as the world's youngest international football coach, the Twitter DM from Kenny that changed everything,...

You might think there's not much going on in the football world at the height of summer - but there are in fact plenty of talking points to be explored by Sweeper co-hosts Lee Wingate & Paul Watson, who is recording the pod ahead of his mammoth 60-hour, 13,229km journey from London to Micronesia to watch the nation's first-ever futsal tournament. Part 1 is dedicated to our very favourite part of the European football calendar: the qualifying rounds for the UEFA club competitions. We...

The club season might be over in 42 UEFA countries, but co-hosts Lee Wingate and Paul Watson have plenty of stand-out international headlines to work their way through on the latest episode of The Sweeper, which was edited by Tom Middler. The first segment of the pod is dedicated to Lee's trip to see San Marino, who extended their unwanted world-record winless run to 130 games against Kazakhstan in Parma - despite giving a pretty impressive account of themselves in the first half. The next...

Lee Wingate and Paul Watson return with some more tales of football off the beaten track, including some live experiences on opposite sides of the globe, a quirky football geography segment and some of their favourite other stories from across the European continent. Lee kicks off the first segment with the remarkable story of Austrian club GAK, whose meteoric rise from the eighth to the first tier in the space of a decade was ruined in the last second by Mario Balotelli's haircut twin,...

Pod duo Lee Wingate and Paul Watson are back with another carefully curated batch of weird and wonderful stories from across the football world, with Tom Middler returning to the virtual studio to produce the episode. Lee reflects on his trip to Liechtenstein’s Cup Final - where FC Vaduz unsurprisingly win a world-record 49th domestic cup - and his subsequent 50km hike through the hills to see all seven football stadiums in the micro-state in the space of 24 hours. Promotions and...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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.