Lee Wingate

🇵🇹🏝️ We can only imagine the Santa Clara coach’s pep talk at the final whistle in Croatia: “We’re still fighting for this tie. They’ve got to come to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and do something, and I’ll tell you, honestly, I would love it if we beat them!”

I’m so immensely proud of this. Creating and making The Sweeper in addition to my normal job has been incredibly challenging and there were points where I wasn’t sure it was sustainable. For @paul_c_watson and I to even get to this point is a professional dream come true! 😊

Having already been to Liechtenstein (where I watched Vaduz), Monaco and San Marino, it has to be Andorra for me! 🇦🇩🔜

Any Turkish people or @SweeperPod followers know where I can buy a @BursasporSk shirt in Istanbul?

🇦🇺 The Australian Cup round of 32, which begins today, has it all! ✈️ The old 'Distance Derby': Perth Glory v Wellington Phoenix ↖️ 🏝️ An island tie in Tasmania: South Hobart v. South Melbourne ↗️ 🇭🇷 Three clubs with Croatian roots: Adelaide Croatia Raiders, Gold Coast Knights &…

🧵 It has been a busy week of threads at Sweeper HQ: 🇫🇮 Monday: HJK Helsinki & other clubs that played their reserves 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Tuesday: Undersea tunnels & football in the Shetland Isles 🇵🇹 Wednesday: Santa Clara & UEFA football in the mid-Atlantic Read 👇

🇵🇹🏝️ Primeira Liga club Santa Clara from the Azores are bringing UEFA competition football to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean this summer. What challenges do they face? And could they break the all-time European away day record? Here are 10 facts you need to know. THREAD 🧵

Will have to get myself from Vienna to Nieciecza for a game next season! Amazing to think that the @SweeperPod listenership would not all fit into this top-flight stadium in Poland! 😅

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 The Shetland Isles, a Scottish archipelago in the North Sea, are exploring the construction of undersea tunnels like in the Faroe Islands. What would that mean for football teams, fans and island life in general? And what is the sport like in this isolated outpost? 🧵 THREAD

🇫🇮 In the quarter-finals of the 2025 Finnish Cup, HJK Helsinki claimed a comfortable "away" victory...against their own reserves. It begs the question: how often does a club play against or get surpassed by their own reserves in football? Here are 10 notable examples. THREAD 🧵

I simply NEED to play for Rayo Vaticano

🇦🇩 FC Andorra, who are owned by Barcelona legend Gerard Pique, play in the Spanish pyramid & have just been promoted to the second tier. But why don't they play in Andorra's league? And how did they once achieve a double-promotion? Here are 10 facts you need to know. THREAD 🧵

This was such a fun thread to write, there would have been enough stories to include 20 clubs! If you like it, please share it ☺️

Frankly, who wouldn’t want to see this?!

👑 Football clubs that play in the leagues of other UN / FIFA-recognised countries are relatively rare. Those that become champions are even rarer. From west to east, here are eight clubs from five continents that have won the league title outside their own borders. THREAD 🧵

🇻🇦 Who are the football champions of the world’s smallest country?

What’s the most obscure country you’ve ever watched football in? 🇵🇼🏟️

🏟️🇪🇺 What is the one football stadium in Europe you’d most like to visit? 🤔

🏆 We're calling for a 16-team tournament for European cross-border/exclave/island clubs: 🇦🇩 FC Andorra 🇦🇿 Araz-Naxçıvan PFK 🇪🇪 FC Kuressaare 🇫🇮 IFK Mariehamn 🇫🇷 SC Bastia 🇮🇸 ÍBV 🇮🇪 Derry City FC 🇮🇹 Cagliari Calcio 🇮🇹 Palermo Calcio 🇱🇮 FC Vaduz 🇲🇨 AS Monaco 🇵🇹 CD Nacional 🇵🇹 CD…

I will 100% be going to that @fcandorra stadium next season! 🏟️🤩