Occasional reminder that I am also on Instagram. Will be telling stories of my weird football travels. Today it's all about Nauru and arguably the world's most unforgiving national football pitch. instagram.com/paul_c_watson/

This week's column: the turtle, the spider, the little bird and the, erm, cucumber. All the rest of the news below the line, including brilliant* Hugh Grant joke. (* May not be brilliant) theguardian.com/football/artic…

"So you get a weekly Bonus Pod AND Q&A Pod, TSFP Presents, the Discord, the WhatsApp Community... and this week, a free read of the new TSFP Newsletter? All for €4.75 a month?! Sign me up!" "Sounds great Hansi but this is coming out of your wages, OK" JOIN US ➡️

🚨 LIVE STREAM EVENT TONIGHT 🚨 The Sweeper duo will be holding a first-ever live stream event on our Discord server for patrons at 21:00 GMT tonight. Lee & Paul will be covering the UEL/UECL action & answering your questions for one hour. Join us at patreon.com/sweeperpod 🔜

🇸🇲🇱🇮 The match between the two worst national teams ever - as measured by combined ongoing winless run (179 in this case) - takes place in Serravalle today. San Marino are on a world-record 140-game winless streak, while fellow minnows Liechtenstein have not won for 39 matches.

🔷 If you are enjoying the European competitions, don't miss the last episode of the amazing The Sweeper podcast, which puts plenty of focus on them! 🔶 It was also great to hear our Football Rankings page mentioned as a source in one of the discussions, so thanks for that!

GOAL SAN MARINO!!!!!!!!!! Nicko Sensoli gets to the ball before the keeper and prods it home. Absolute pandemonium at Stadio Olimpico di Serravalle!!!!!! 🇸🇲 1-0 🇱🇮 (53) #SMRLIE #UEFANationsLeague

🇸🇲 SAN MARINO WIN A GAME FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 20+ YEARS & A COMPETITIVE MATCH FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!! History is made as the worst team in the FIFA rankings (210th) finally end the longest winless run in international football history (140 games dating back to April 2004)!!!

🇸🇲 What a night in Serravalle for the Sweeper team, including San Marino’s first win in 20 years & a live bonus pod, which is out now! Looking forward to being able to tell the amazing story to other pods & radio stations in the coming days. It was an unforgettable night of ⚽️!

Yesterday after San Marino’s 1-0 win over Liechtenstein, an excited Sweeper crew were joined by friends & listeners in a local bar for a special live pod. It was one of the most memorable episodes we’ve ever made. If you enjoy underdog success stories like this, give it a try ⬇️

HEADLINE: "How San Marino, world's worst team, got first win in 20 years" - Paul Watson, The Sweeper co-host, for ESPN FC ESPN espn.com/soccer/story/_…

Now there's been time to decompress, post-San Marino, thank you to The Sweeper for their generosity, and everyone I met along the way to make it one of the finest football trips I've taken. Go follow The Sweeper. It's a fantastic community!

🇸🇲 It was a pleasure to take Stephen with us to Serravalle as our competition winner & to experience a moment of football history with him! We’re grateful to our patrons for supporting our independent journalism. Without people like Stephen, our pod would not exist. Thank you!

Love to hear the The Sweeper on The Totally Football Show!

💫 When the lights go out at Goodison in May 2025, our L4 story will carry on… ‘For𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿’.

A £13million regeneration at the heart of L4. 💫 For𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 ➡️ evertoninthecommunity.org/forever

🌍🪟 We constantly hear people complaining about international breaks but personally believe they are the highlights of the football calendar. For the people that bemoan their existence, here are 10 amazing stories that happened in the September international window. THREAD 🧵

Villa away. Up the Toffees! ✊

🗣️🆕 We’re proud and excited to announce that The Sweeper now has a partnership with FIFA+, the world football governing body’s top-quality & totally free streaming platform. Sign up to watch live football worldwide & support the pod via the link ⬇️ 🔗 tinyurl.com/SweeperFIFAPlus

It is not, as the saying erroneously goes, the hope that kills you. It is the absence of it that does. For Everton and their fans there has been a complete lack of hope in recent years — the proposed takeover by the Friedkin Group will provide some. At last. ✍️ Patrick Boyland