St Anthony's Football Club is a Scottish non-league

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in Glasgow. Nicknamed ''the Ants'', they play in green-and-white hooped kits and currently operate in the .

History

Founded in 1902, they were members of the Scottish Junior Football Association from that time until 2020 when all local clubs moved to the new West of Scotland Football League, becoming part of the senior football pyramid for the first time. St Anthony's were originally based in the heart of Govan and then played at two grounds on either side of the Moorepark neighbourhood close to Ibrox Stadium, home of

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

, until the 1990s; however, the ''Ants'' have strong cultural ties to

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, having originated via the local branch of the League of the Cross Catholic abstinence society which drew much of its membership from the Irish immigrant community.St Anthony's FC History Pages
AntsHistory Since 1999 their home ground is McKenna Park in Shieldhall, directly north of the M8 motorway (the road was built through Cardonald Park and so the ground is often referred to as being located in the Cardonald district, although it lies on the other side of the motorway). The team reached the final of the Scottish Junior Cup on two occasions (1919 and 1925) but never lifted the trophy. They won honours in the

Scottish Junior League The Scottish Junior Football League (SJL) was a Scottish football competition that, through various incarnations, existed from 1892 to 1947. It was based in the west of Scotland and largely consisted of Junior clubs that were not considered good ...

up to 1922 when they joined the more prestigious Glasgow League,Reared Many Famous Players
Evening Times, 4 March 1933, via AntsHistory remaining with that group in the subsequent decades through the Intermediate,

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

West Region Western Region or West Region may refer to: Places *Al Gharbia, Abu Dhabi, the Western Region *Western Region, Bahrain *Western Region, Eastern Cape, South Africa *Western Region, Ghana *Western Region (Iceland) *Western Region, Nepal *Western Regi ...

eras, into the 21st century. They were

West of Scotland Junior Cup The West of Scotland Junior Challenge Cup was an annual Scottish football competition played in a one-leg knockout format (played at 'home' team grounds as drawn, until the final at a neutral venue), organised by the West Region of the Scottish ...

winners in 1938, but never seriously challenged for major honours after World War II.

Notable former players

The following players all represented Scotland at full international level after stepping up to Senior football direct from St. Anthony's: *

Bobbie Bruce Robert Frederick Bruce (29 January 1906 – 6 April 1978) was a Scottish footballer. Born in Paisley, Bruce was an inside left who developed with the Glaswegian junior side St. Anthony's. He spent his senior career with Aberdeen (1924–1928), ...

– Aberdeen and Middlesbrough * Ginger Dunn – Hibernian and Everton; One of the 1928 '' Wembley Wizards'' * Bobby Evans – 535 first-team appearances for

, 48 Scotland caps and inducted to the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2008; Also played for Chelsea * John Gilchrist – Celtic *

Tommy McInally Thomas McInally (18 December 1899 – 29 December 1955) was a Scottish footballer who played as a forward. Career McInally played for Celtic from 1919 to 1922 and 1925 to 1928, with a spell at Third Lanark in between. Record of pre-war Scottish ...

– Celtic * John Reid McKay – Celtic, Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough The following former St Anthony's players played for clubs in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

and/or English Football League: *Billy Craig – Celtic *

John Duffy John Duffy may refer to: Sportspeople * John Duffy (footballer, born 1886) (1886–?), English football centre half for Bradford City * John Duffy (footballer, born 1922) (1922–1996), Scottish football right back for Clyde and Norwich * John Duf ...

– Celtic,

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. The ...

, Southend United *George Ferguson – Celtic * Willie Gallacher – Celtic,

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

, Ayr United,

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

* Peter Lamb – Celtic, Alloa Athletic *Matt Lynch – Celtic * John Murphy – Heart of Midlothian,

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

* Willie O'Neill – Celtic,

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

* Norman Thomson – Dumbarton, Hibernian and nine English Football League clubs * Johnny Quigley – Nottingham Forest, Huddersfield Town, Bristol City, Mansfield Town * Dixie Kilcullen - Govan legend

References

External links

*
Profile at Scottish FAtwitter

Video clip of match at old ground from 1998
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Anthony's F.C. Govan Football clubs in Scotland Scottish Junior Football Association clubs Association football clubs established in 1904 Football clubs in Glasgow 1904 establishments in Scotland West of Scotland Football League teams