Roma voice support for Glasgow side Saint Anthony's on Non-League Day

St Anthony's tweet
Saint Anthony's celebrate their Roma-inspired win on Twitter

Glasgow junior side Saint Anthony's will be lucky to attract 100 brave souls on a cold, rainy afternoon.

But the West Region League Two side added the backing of Serie A giants Roma for their 3-1 win over Johnstone Burgh at McKenna Park on Saturday.

To mark the UK's Non-League Day, the club's English language Twitter account announced they were "supporting the mighty Saint Anthony's FC".

Hashtags "Mon the Ants", "it's an Ants thing" and "Forza the Ants" were added.

During the international break, the Non-League Day campaign urges fans of senior clubs who are not playing to go along and support a non-league side.

And the influence of the Italian greats clearly had an impact on Ants striker Grant Kelly, who went on to score a hat-trick for the Glasgow side in their league game.

Roma tweet

A Roma spokesperson explained:external-link "Roma's Twitter account has been getting a lot of good publicity recently and has become a bit of cult thing in terms of football clubs on social media.

"This week with the players away on international duty, we've tried to spread the love a bit by introducing our followers to clubs who maybe don't have as many followers as us."

St Anthony's media officer Martin McKenna told BBC Scotland that the Roma tweet came out of the blue.

He admitted "it's a bit bewildering" but "welcome publicity" for a family club saved from financial problems by his grandfather Felix in the 1950s and for which his father, Felix Jnr, is club secretary.

"The first I knew about it was when my wife woke me this morning to tell me about the tweet and my phone has been in meltdown mode since," he said.

"It's gone a bit crazy and we now have 4,000 followers from around the world - 3,700 of them this morning."

Roma's spokesperson added: "What's more incredible than fans in Rome and Nigeria suddenly supporting a team from Govan and telling everyone about it on social media?

"Football can be incredible sometimes and can bring people together.

"Hopefully this is one of those times. Mon the Ants! Forza the Ants!

"And the next time Roma play in Scotland in the Champions League we'll be up for a few beers."

AS Roma English on Twitter