Paul Watson

Really enjoyed chatting about @thesoccermen on Guardian Football Weekly today. If you ever wondered whether you could play for San Marino this is where that conversation can lead you! The doc is in festivals and hopefully will be on a streaming service soon.

This is the face of a man who realises he’s off to the Vatican to play football and that it may cause a few life problems.

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✈️⚽️ Which of the following four football clubs that are based in micro-states but play across the border in the league of a neighbouring country would you most like to visit? 🇦🇩 FC Andorra 🇪🇸 🇲🇨 AS Monaco 🇫🇷 🇱🇮 FC Vaduz 🇨🇭 🇸🇲 San Marino Calcio 🇮🇹

That is a big name signing for Alsager Town.

I still strongly believe that the PFA's Out of Contract XI should operate like a Pirate XI. They can call out any team in any league and if they beat them they take their place. But they only get 3 chances each season, if they lose all 3 it's season over.

🇧🇹 Doubt you’ll see a better goal this week (or possibly this season) than this belter from Kezang Dorji of Paro FC in Bhutan. What a hit!

🇲🇳 In Mongolia, Tuv Azarganuud have pulled off one of the most remarkable season turnarounds ever. They lost their first 9 games, conceding 109 goals, including a 20-1 loss to Brera Ilch. Today they beat Brera Ilch 4-1 - a 7th win of the season - to avoid automatic relegation!

Fired off an email too quickly and instead of saying 'have a lovely weekend' I've now said 'have a lonely weekend' and to be honest it's very much changed the whole tone of the message.

A long night for the players in Luxembourg as the referee's assistant holds up the board for 73 minutes of stoppage time.

🇫🇮 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 think we can all agree Chelsea are definitely the best team in the world.

I've done the same and watched a @slplboard game on fifa Plus. Absolutely mental! This has to be peek @SweeperPod & @paul_c_watson

Feeling like a smug #Football purist by ditching the Club World Cup final for the #IslandGames clash between Orkney and Frøya ✊🏻 @SweeperPod

🚨 FOOTBALL PLAYERS WANTED 🚨 Would you like to live, work and play football on a tiny island in the English Channel? YES? Please get in touch and we can help make that a possibility! “Have boots will play” (Please comment, like & share) youtu.be/x5B8wnphTBg?si…

We know what needs to happen here. Ancelotti actually goes to jail where he has to put together a team of inmates for their big game of the year against the guards. Eve of game he’s told he can go free to coach Brazil at the World Cup but follows his heart and chooses to stay.

🏆 Only 38 days after PSG thrashed Inter 5-0 in the 2024/25 final, the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign gets under way today! The first ball will be kicked in Finland, where KuPS - from the country’s eighth biggest city - will play host to Milsami Orhei of Moldova 🔜

🇪🇺 The qualifying rounds for the UEFA club competitions start tomorrow - only 38 days after the 2024/25 Champions League final. Who are the participants? What are their back stories? Join us for a whistlestop trip to 10 lesser-known corners of the European continent. THREAD 🧵

🇦🇹🎵 The son of legendary singer Phil Collins has signed for a second-tier Austrian club. But which other footballers past and present are related to non-footballing public figures?

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

Tibet’s men’s national football team is playing in CONIFA’s Asian Cup - a three-team tournament including East Turkistan and Tamil Eelam - which starts in London today. The history of Tibet’s football team is an interesting one which includes monks, trade wars, the Dalai Lama,…