The Sweeper - A World Football Podcast

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 – Intro02:45 – Shamrock Rovers with Andy Brassell08:06 – Conference League or Nations League?10:26 – Víkingur Reykjavík with Hinrik Wöhler14:38 – A trigger-happy Bosnian club president17:50 – Lugano with Massimo Solari23:44 – Crazy European away day records27:25 – World football trivia with Career We Go46:34 – 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.

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 Gift a Patreon subscription for Christmas: www.patreon.com/SweeperPod/gift  Part 1 is all about the biggest domestic cup shocks and upsets across the globe, starting with Spaeri. But does their association with a government entity make it less of a fairytale triumph for the fast-rising second-tier Georgians? The focus then turns to other lower-league cup triumphs in 2024, including Senegal, where the final set an almost unbelievable all-time record. The segment concludes with our stand-out cupsets of the season in Spain, Austria, Norway and Denmark, where two top-flight teams have been hit with an expensive fine for a snowball fight.  Up next in Part 2 is a whistlestop tour of the globe, with five stories from five continents. In Europe, Serie D outfit Piacenza race through three coaches in one day, while a passionate fan tries to smuggle his grandfather’s skull into a continental final in South America. A striker hoping to face Cristiano Ronaldo in the Asian Champions League joins the wrong Esteghlal in Iran, TP Mazembe get stuck at the airport for two nights ahead of an African Champions League tie and Central American Cup winners Alajuelense want a place at the FIFA Club World Cup. For bonus episodes, extra blog posts, weekly World Football Newsletters, sneak peaks at our agenda, football shirt giveaways and access to our magnificent Discord community, join us on Patreon at patreon.com/SweeperPod for a fiver a month and support our independent journalism. There are no contracts, no sign-up fees, no minimum stays and no advertisements. The next bonus episode – featuring our favourite stories from the 2024 calendar year – will be released on Wednesday 18 December. RUNNING ORDER:00:00 – Intro00:39 – A Spaeri-tale Georgian Cup triumph06:17 – Senegal’s lower-league final09:53 – Cupsets across the continent17:12 – An expensive Danish snowball fight20:28 – Africa: TP Mazembe’s airport disaster24:28 – Europe: Piacenza’s mental 24 hours28:51 – South America: A smuggled skull in Paraguay31:50 – Asia: A transfer to the wrong Esteghlal35:13 – North & Central America: Alajuelense’s CWC claim37:46 – The 2024 Intercontinental Cup on FIFA+ Editor: Ralph Foster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 There was only ever going to be one starting point for our international coverage in Part 1: San Marino’s historic promotion to UEFA Nations League C! But how do we think they will fare and who do we want to see them face? Up next is the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, the home of Haiti & Dominican Republic – both of whom have qualified for the 2025 Gold Cup. But which other examples of shared island qualification for a major tournament are there? Finally in Part 1, we tell you all about Kitmas – a brilliant initiative started by our own Paul Watson. The focus switches to club football in Part 2 as we put the Coupe de France and the participating overseas territories under the microscope. How did US Avranches fare after their 16,000 kilometre trip to Tahiti? And why are USSA Vertou in limbo at the airport ahead of their trip to Réunion? We then finish the episode with the curious case of Seventh Day Adventist Silvan Wallner – and other religious retirements from football – before examining the outsiders and underdogs at the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup. Don’t want to wait another fortnight for your next dose of Sweeper goodness? Then join us for a bonus episode on 4 December, in which we will be discussing – amongst other things – a mad 24 hours involving three different head coaches at Italian Serie D side Piacenza and the thrilling conclusion to the Georgian title race, with the horrendously renamed Iberia 1999 in pole position. Simply sign up at www.patreon.com/SweeperPod and get a whole host of other perks such as weekly newsletters, bonus blogs and access to our chat community on Discord. Gift a Patreon subscription for Christmas: www.patreon.com/SweeperPod/gift Make a Kitmas donation or contribution: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/kitmas-2024 Leo Honig’s Substack newsletter: substack.com/@footballshapedRUNNING ORDER:00:00 – Intro02:17 – San Marino’s historic promotion11:53 – Hispaniola’s Gold Cup qualification18:32 – Kitmas 2024 & Christmas Patreon gifts26:03 – Coupe de France controversies34:34 – Silvan Wallner & religious retirements40:48 – FIFA+: The FIFA Club World Cup draw Editor: Ralph Foster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Part 1 of this bonus Patreon episode, which we have released in the absence of a fresh podcast on this occasion, the Sweeper team are joined by Tom Middler and Simon Clark – Lee's co-hosts on his other podcast, 'The Other Bundesliga' – to talk about their groundhopping trip to Slovenia & Croatia. Which UEFA Conference League match did they watch? Who plays in Slovenia's 'metal derby'? And why is there a garden shed in Croatia's largest stadium? Join us to find out! The theme in Part 2 is sh*thousery and the dark arts. What bizarre measure did River Plate resort to for their Copa Libertadores semi-final against Atlético Mineiro? Why are Como using local buses in what has been described as a declaration of war on regional rivals Monza? And how did the AFC U17 Asian Cup qualifier between Australia and Indonesia descend into farce? Plus, a bonus question: How many footballs can Paul and Lee carry? If you like the bonus podcast, you can listen to them every fortnight – on the Wednesdays between our usual episodes – by signing up at patreon.com/SweeperPod. You can also enter our giveaways, read our weekly World Football Newsletter and our bonus blogs, and join our chat community on Discord, where hundreds of patrons are discussing world football on a daily basis. The show is also largely self-funded, so Patreon contributions are a great way to support our journalism! RUNNING ORDER:00:00 - Intro01:54 - Giantkillings & Kiribati fan accounts08:18 - A scorpion save in Slovenia14:52 - Metal-themed football clubs19:57 - Ultras & garden sheds in Croatia29:47 - River Plate's potent paint35:51 - Como's declaration of war on Monza40:59 - AFC U17 Asian Cup controversy43:30 - How many footballs can we carry? Editor: Ralph Foster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.