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The Sweeper - A World Soccer & Football Podcast

Sweeper Productions Ltd
World Cup
San Marino
Football
FIFA
CONCACAF
Cape Verde
Greenland
North Korea
Liechtenstein
Eritrea
OFC Nations Cup
OFC Pro League
UEFA Conference League
Georgia
Austria
Curaçao
FC Thun
Coupe De France
Lugano
Champions League

Tired of the Premier League and big-league European football? Want to discover the hidden stories of the global game? The Sweeper Podcast is your passport to the most extraordinary stories from across the football world. From the World Cup and Champions League to the most obscure and overlooked competitions on earth, expert journalists Lee Wingate and Paul Watson explore the intersection of footba... more

PublishesTwice weeklyEpisodes142Founded6 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
SoccerNewsSportsSports News

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Artwork for The Sweeper

Latest Episodes

At the start of October, Chengdu Rongcheng had been top of the Chinese Super League all season and were given a 99.9% chance of winning the title: they had a 12-point lead over challengers Dalian Yingbo with four games to go.

What then followed was ... more

The Principality of Sealand is an unrecognised micronation that is located on a fort in the North Sea, approximately 11 kilometres off the coast of Suffolk in the Unted Kingdom.

Despite its tiny size – at 50 metres long, it is not even large enough ... more

The Slovenian Cup is mental: Pizza and a referee almost conspired to deny Rogaška the title in 2023/24, while 2025/26 winners Aluminij come from a village of just 1,000 people.

And with third-tier teams vastly outnumbering top-flight clubs and makin... more

The old European Cup Winners’ Cup made headlines like almost no other continental competition – but was eventually discontinued by UEFA following the 1998/99 campaign.

And yet 22 years later, Europe’s governing body reintroduced a third-tier competi... more

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Recent Guests

Amal Kuka
Albanian journalist for Panorama Sport
Panorama Sport
Episode: How Albanian giants Skenderbeu earned UEFA’s longest-ever ban (10 years!!!)
John Duerden
Asia correspondent
Episode: India’s Super League crisis, the utterly mental Polish Ekstraklasa & Christmas Island’s red crabs
Ali Howarth
Continental correspondent discussing Afcon
Episode: India’s Super League crisis, the utterly mental Polish Ekstraklasa & Christmas Island’s red crabs
Jon Arnold
Expert on North and Central American football
Episode: Curacao & Haiti's World Cup heroics, Thun’s Swiss title tilt & Argentina’s invented champion
Nathan Joyes
Football commentator and host of Copa Club Podcast
Copa Club Podcast
Episode: Coquimbo Unido's treasured title, Mirassol's organic rise & the OFC Pro League soft launch
Maksims Krivunecs
President of the Vers Liga, Latvia's higher football league
Vers Liga
Episode: Latvia: The Baltic League grand plan, vanishing champions & a final between friends
Titas Teiten
Football journalist from Baltic Football News
Baltic Football News
Episode: Sweden’s Mjällby miracle, Lithuania’s warm welcome & Ireland’s marathon helicopter
Ali Howorth
African football expert
Cabo Verde National Team
Episode: Cape Verde: World Cup qualification, the LinkedIn footballer & donkey deliveries
Matej Mutiš
Co-host of Futbaloviva and winner of the 2024 Slovak Sports Podcast of the Year Award
Episode: Slovakia’s belated EURO triumph, Montserrat’s challenge to India & Crotone’s mafia infiltration

Hosts

Lee Wingate
Football journalist covering global football, travel, geography and culture
Paul Watson
Football journalist covering global football, travel, geography and culture

Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars from 1.2k ratings
  • Lovely find

    Really interesting pod. Great hosts with top knowledge

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    MatthewJamesz
    United Kingdoma month ago
  • Great podcast

    Come on 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧🇹🇷🇸🇲🇲🇰🇨🇼🇨🇻🇦🇹

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Edwardinio23
    United Kingdoma month ago
  • Proper Football Pod

    Excellent, well researched, fun and a different niche than the norm. A pod for proper football fans who love the travel, the game and don’t take the game quite so seriously. 5 star!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Hamwick (Wessex)
    United Kingdom6 months ago
  • Great Podcast

    Slowly working my way through the old episodes of the podcast and really enjoying it. Good to hear some different stories rather than just the boring stuff from the bigger leagues.

    Would like it if the Europe United episodes would make a comeback, they were very good!

    Keep up the good work guys

    Updated 5/5/26

    The biggest football fairytale is St. Johnstone’s cup double. Nothing comes close

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Crockett7285
    United Kingdom6 months ago
  • Lee & Paul are the best joint managers since Lars Lagerback & Heimir H

    Have listened to this podcast for over a year - every episdoe is expertly put together - thank you all (producers as well as presenters & contributors) for the effort and time.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    TurloughB
    United Kingdom8 months ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Listeners value the research and the mix of football with travel, geography, culture and history.
Some listeners object to promotional segments and to how political issues are framed or kept separate from football coverage.
The global focus and obscure club and league stories stand out as a welcome alternative to coverage of major leagues.
Listeners praise the hosts' chemistry, knowledge and enthusiastic, approachable presentation.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts
#161
United States/Sports/Soccer
Apple Podcasts
#169
Canada/Sports/Soccer
Apple Podcasts
#169
United Kingdom/Sports/Soccer
Apple Podcasts
#164
Australia/Sports/Soccer
Apple Podcasts
#66
South Korea/Sports/Soccer
Apple Podcasts
#68
Philippines/Sports/Soccer

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Latvia: The Baltic League grand plan, vanishing champions & a final between friends
Q: What challenges come with trying to grow the profile of Latvian football?
Krivunecs mentions financial resources as a key challenge, primarily due to limited domestic TV rights and market size.
Latvia: The Baltic League grand plan, vanishing champions & a final between friends
Q: Can you sell the Vers Liga to our international audience? What makes Latvian football special?
Maksims Krivunecs discusses the appeal of the league, highlighting its youth and the diversity of clubs, while acknowledging it primarily caters to a local audience.
OUR GREENLAND ASSIST, San Marino's "pizza bakers" & Paks' power-plant ultras
Q: What did you say to your players after this game?
The San Marino coach indicated that they look to gain lessons from such games for better fixtures in the future.
Cape Verde: World Cup qualification, the LinkedIn footballer & donkey deliveries
Q: What were the logistical challenges faced by the Cape Verde national team?
The team has to manage extensive travel logistics to bring players from around the world, often training in Portugal before matches.
Cape Verde: World Cup qualification, the LinkedIn footballer & donkey deliveries
Q: What was the reaction in Cape Verde after the qualification for the World Cup?
The mood was celebratory yet low-key, as many were hungover after parties that lasted through the night.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

Listeners per Episode
Gender Skew
Location
Interests
Professions
Age Range
Household Income
Social Media Reach

Frequently Asked Questions About The Sweeper

What is The Sweeper about and what kind of topics does it cover?

Journalists Lee Wingate and Paul Watson tell stories from football's less-covered corners, from small leagues and overlooked clubs to international competitions and the politics, history and geography around the game. The format mixes researched feature-length conversations with shorter roundups of several unusual stories, often adding quizzes, travel observations and light humor. Topics range across all continents and levels of football, including club histories, federation rules, fan culture, governance, identity and the practical challenges of playing in remote or unusual places.

The distinctive appeal is its focus on underdogs and places rarely covered by mainstream football media, while still connecting local stories to wider question... more

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How many listeners does The Sweeper get?

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Which podcasts are similar to The Sweeper?

These podcasts share a similar audience with The Sweeper:

1. Football Cliches
2. On The Continent - A European Football Podcast
3. Libero
4. It Was What It Was : The Football History Podcast
5. Not The Top 20 Podcast

How many episodes of The Sweeper are there?

The Sweeper launched 6 years ago and published 142 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

How do I contact The Sweeper?

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What guests have appeared on The Sweeper?

Recent guests on The Sweeper include:

1. Amal Kuka
2. John Duerden
3. Ali Howarth
4. Jon Arnold
5. Nathan Joyes
6. Maksims Krivunecs
7. Titas Teiten
8. Ali Howorth

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

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