The club are delighted to announce that we have become members of Sported, a UK wide charity promoting fairness and equity for young people through grassroots sport and physical activity. They deliver support and resources that will help us thrive as a club and we are looking forward to working with them to help us reach both our short and long term goals.

We will be looking to re-organise our club structure and put in place a plan that will hopefully help us continue to grow in a sustainable structured manner as well as access funding streams through Sported that will help us with our planned growth over the next few years.

It’s an exciting time for the club as we move into a new era and with Sported behind us the future looks increasingly brighter.

Ants Club Secretary Martin McKenna said “I’m excited to sign the club up to Sported membership. Their army of volunteers can help us get to where we want to be as an organisation and the Sported team have been really helpful since we made contact with them. I can’t wait to get started on a new chapter for the club and see where it takes us”

We Can’t wait to see how this partnership helps shape our future and look forward to working with the team at Sported and their amazing network of volunteers.

For more information on Sported, Visit their website at www.sported.org.uk

The Ants Ladies team were recently successful in our application for funding from the National Lottery Community Fund to help assist us with the creation of not only the Ladies first team but also to help kick start our age group girls teams as well, giving us much needed support for Coach Education, training lets, kit and equipment. We are delighted that the fund have seen what benefits of the ladies and girls section of the club can give to the local community and we can’t wait to see how the project grows over the coming weeks and months.

Ants Ladies Club Secretary Martin McKenna was delighted to receive the news of the award. “The Ants ladies set up is a big part of how we see the future of the club and we want to attract local girls to the club to help improve

overall fitness and to help them grow as footballers as well as young people. We are delighted to receive this much needed funding to help us get started on building the ladies and girls section of the club”.

Local MP Chris Stephens came along to McKenna Park yesterday where the Queen Ants were showing off their new McKenna Digital Media sponsored home and away kits, to hand over a presentation cheque to the club. Speaking to the Ants website Chris said “It was a pleasure to visit McKenna Park and present the Women’s Team with a cheque from the Lottery for kit,

training let’s, coach education and other costs to help establish the team. Womens football is growing rapidly and I am delighted that St.Anthonys are putting a team together. Going forward I am looking forward to working with St.Anthonys and assisting their work with the wider community”

The future looks bright for the Queen Ants and its a big thank you to the National Lottery Awards for All for the award

The Club have signed up as a supporter of Football v Homophobia’s month of action that will see us designate our match v Vale of Clyde this Saturday as our Match V Homophobia to encourage LGBTQ+ involvement in Football, highlighting the fact that Football should be for all regardless of sexuality. This is something that the club strongly believes should be the case and McKenna Park is proud to welcome supporters of all sexualities. Our club chairman is an openly gay man and has written about his feelings on the campaign in the past which he welcomes massively having to have had to hide his sexuality for fear of it being held against him for many years in what wasn’t always the most open of environments for gay and trans people.

The following is an extract from the excellent Football v Homophobia Website –

Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual, whilst Transphobia is used to describe a range of negative attitudes or behaviours that a person may express towards transgender people or those perceived as being transgender.

The phrases ‘homophobia in football’ or ‘transphobia in football’ are often used without defining the nature of LGBTphobia.

The Football v Homophobia Campaign works from an understanding that homophobia and transphobia are not uniform phenomena experienced in the same way by all LGBT sports participants. We believe homophobia and transphobia can appear differently in different football contexts and cultures – on a continuum from lack of acceptance of LGBT participants to outright verbal and physical abuse.

Homophobia in sport is well documented. Research by Scotland’s Equality Network ‘Out for Sport’ (2011) shows that of more than 1,700 respondents, 79% thought that there was a problem of homophobia in sport, whilst 62% had witnessed or experienced homophobia or transphobia in sport. Amongst trans respondents the numbers of those having experienced or witnessed homophobia or transphobia in sport rose to 80%. These findings, whilst focused on Scotland, are widely seen as transferable to other UK contexts.

Research undertaken by the National Union of Students during 2012, which surveyed the opinions of 845 LGBT students, found that 46.8% of respondents experienced sport culture as ‘alienating or unwelcoming’.

Meanwhile, the Youth Chances Survey (2013) found a third of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual young people and 50% of young trans people aged 16-25 do not feel they can be open about their sexuality or gender identity in a sports club.

During 2016 research by Stonewall, the UK LGBT human rights charity found that:

• 72 per cent of football fans have heard homophobic abuse
• One in five 18 to 24 year-olds say they’d be embarrassed if their favourite player came out
• Young people are twice as likely to say anti-LGBT language is harmless if it’s just meant as ‘banter’
• The majority of people think that offensive language towards LGBT people in sport is a problem

Whilst it is clear attitudes are changing, there is still a widespread problem with homophobic and transphobic language in football and this affects the experience of LGBT people watching, playing, officiating and administrating the game. It impacts particularly on the experience of LGBT children and young people in football who may feel especially vulnerable and isolated if they hear negative comments at a time when they are discovering their own identities

We want fans, committee members, players and match officials to be truly themselves at McKenna Park and we will keep working to make sure that we do everything we can to make everyone feel welcome and free from any kind of abuse. Want to come along to the match on Saturday? You can buy tickets online using our Fanbase Ticket Portal

 

The Ants Ladies lost 3-1 away to Cumbernauld Colts on Sunday at Broadwood but there were plenty of positives to take from the match against a side who currently play in the SWF West Division.

The first half saw us go on the offensive from the first whistle and efforts from Kayla Welsh and Mandy Richardson went wide of target, at the other end Talligh McArthur had to be quick off her line a couple of times to sweep up. The match was flowing from end to end and there was a great goal-line block from Channelle Munro to keep it at 0-0 but it was the home side who took the lead on the half hour mark when Lucy Foye opened the scoring before a fantastic save by Skelton kept the hosts in front with a full stretch dive to tip a shot round the post and out for a corner to the Ants.  In the 37th minute the hosts doubled their lead when Rachel Graham took advantage of McArthur being off her line to finish from distance to make it 2-0. Skelton then produced another fine save when it looked like Lauren Templeton’s shot was going in the top corner and the half finished with the home side 2 goals to the good.

The Ants made a few subs at half time and again started the half on the front foot with Mattison, Boyle, Templeton, Richardson and Rigamonti all linking up well going forward and with half an hour to go they all combined again to put Alice Rigamonti thru on Skelton and she made no mistake as she poked the ball past the keeper to reduce the deficit to 2-1. This gave the Queen Ants a lift but they just couldn’t put the ball in the net and as is always the case the home side took full advantage when Daniella Boyd grabbed a 3rd against the run of play.  Credit to the Ants they didn’t let their heads drop and kept pushing for another goal to get back into the match but it was to no avail and 3-1 Cumbernauld was how it finished.

A good workout and another step closer to full fitness as we gear up for our first ever league campaign.

Photo’s in the gallery below provided by Patryk Rudnicki

The club are delighted to announce that Pixel Glasgow have agreed a deal to become a Mens First Team official partner which will see their logo on the club website as well as on the clubs social media platforms. We look forward to working with Daniel and the team on a number of initiatives over initially the first 18 months and hopefully beyond.

Speaking to the Ants website after the deal was signed, Pixel Glasgow owner Daniel Clark said

Seeing the outstanding work St. Anthony’s do for the community it was an absolute no brainer when I seen their ad for paid sponsorship.

He continued “Having spoken with Martin and speaking over the visions of the club it just feels like the perfect fit.Football is a massive part in any community so to help St Anthonys push on over the next 18 months is a massive honour and I hope that together we can build on this already great partnership”.

Heres to the start of a wonderful relationship!

The Ants are back in league action to kick off 2024 with the short visit to first foot Caledonian Locomotives at Petershill Park in the PDM Huws Gray West of Scotland Football League Second Division.

Both teams come into this one with Caley Loco’s on a 6 game unbeaten run in the league, their last defeat coming at home to runaway league leaders Ardrossan Winton Rovers back in September although they did lose 3-2 to Hurlford in their last game before the festive period. The Ants last league defeat also came at the hands of Ardrossan back in November with a 3 game unbeaten run put together since then.

There’s already been a meeting of the sides this season back in August at McKenna Park where a Kamil Leszczynski double, along with goals for Jonny McKay, John O’Hagan and Jack MacMurray scored for the Ants with Tyler Wright netting for Loco’s in a 5-1 win for The Ants.

Caledonian Loco’s currently sit in 4th place in the league having amassed 26 points from 14 games, with 8 wins, 2 draws and 4 defeats and this see’s them 5 points ahead of The Ants with the same games played, The Ants having won 7, 3 draws and 4 defeats, but having being deducted 3 points, come into this one in 8th place.

It promises to be a New Year cracker at Petershill Park so why not come along and see who takes home the first 3 points of 2024

PREVIOUS MEETINGS

 

A strong second half showing from the Ants brought us back into a match that few could have seen us take anything from at half time as we trailed Glasgow Uni 2-0 but goals from Craig Scott and Martin Mullaney saw us leave Airdrie with a point that on another day could have been all three.

Glasgow Uni got off to a flying start when Ewan McKinley capitalised on a poor pass from McGuire that was intercepted by a Glasgow Uni attacker and when the ball found McKinley he fired a shot off the underside of the bar and in from the edge of the box and with 18 minutes gone it was 1-0 to the home side. McKinley then doubled his and his teams tally 3 minutes later again capitalising on some sloppy passing and a bit of good fortune to make it 2-0 to the Students.

The Ants enjoyed a lot of the ball but couldn’t find the final pass or shot on target and the half finished at 2-0

Within 3 minutes of the start of the second half Craig Scott had reduced the deficit to a single goal when he made it 2-1 with a thunderbolt from a headed clearance from the edge of the box. The Ants totally dominated the second half but the Uni were still dangerous on the break and Bailey McGuire got down low to save on a couple of occasions. Just after the hour mark Martin Mullaney equalised for the Ants after good work by McKillop and Leszczynski down the right.

Carballo then had a fine effort saved and Mullaney also came close with a header just over the top. The Ants fans in the Excelsior thought we had taken all 3 points with a minute to go but Leszczynski’s effort went just the other side of the post and it finished 2-2

The Ants put on a five star show at McKenna Park with a fine 5-1 win over Caledonian Locomotives Football Club in the PDM Huws Gray West of Scotland Football League second division.

We took the lead in the 9th minute when Jonny McKay ended a fine move that saw Ian Eadie cut the ball back and McKay thumped the ball home. Caley Loco’s equalised in the 25th minute capitalising on a defensive mistake and Tyler Wright rounded McGuire and just squeezed the ball home.

The Ants had 2 or 2 great chances after that before the break but we went in tied at 1-1 at the break.
The second half saw us regain the lead in the 57th minute when Kamil Leszczynski struck and it was 3-1 3 minutes later when Jack MacMurray tapped the ball into the empty net.

The Ants were playing some lovely stuff and in the 87th minute Leszczynski’s second of the match sealed the points before John O’Hagan put the cherry on the top with a 5th in the 92nd minute.

Full Time – Ants 5 v 1 Caley Loco’s

The Ants made it two wins in a row with a fine 3-4 win away to Bonnyton Thistle at the Synergy Arena in the first ever matchup between the two sides.

The Ants were on the front foot from the kick off and that early pressure paid off in the 11th minute when Jack MacMurray put the Ants infront direct from a corner which deceived the Thistle defenders and keeper who couldn’t scramble the ball clear. It was double delight for the Ants in the 18th minute when last season’s top scorer Martin Mullaney notched his second of the season as he lashed the ball into the top corner after a fine cut back from Keir McNair.

Bonnyton didn’t waste long in a reply though and reduced the deficit to 1-2 in the 21st minute when a Kieran Murphy free kick found its way to the back post and Ben Wilson was unmarked to head home past McGuire. This boosted the home side and 11 minutes later they were level when goal provider turned goal scorer when Kieran Murphy fired home a long range free kick that beat McGuire much to the delight of the home fans.

Just before the break there was a golden opportunity for Bonnyton to take the lead when McGuire spilled a shot and upon trying to retrieve the ball took out a Bonnyton player and the ref pointed to the spot. Kyle McAvoy stepped up to take the kick but he was denied by McGuire who guessed the correct way to keep the ball out.

HALF TIME BONNYTON 2 v 2 ANTS

The second half was barely a minute old when we had the games 5th goal. Jack MacMurray started the move in his own half and after a good passing move Mullaney slid the youngster in and he made no mistake firing across McRoberts and into the net to restore the Ants lead. Both sides pressed for another goal and both looked equally dangerous going forward but it was The Ants who would get the next, and as it turned out crucial goal when Mullaney passed the ball back under pressure from two Bonnyton defenders into the path of Sam Muir who applied a stunning finish to give McRoberts no chance and put the Ants 2-4 ahead.

It looked like it was game over as we reached the 90th minute but life as an Ants fan is never that simple and when Aaron Fairbairn nodded home in the 91st minute you could have been forgiven for wondering if we would hold out. A couple of corners, including one where the Keeper came up were dealt with well by the Ants rearguard and the refs final whistle was music to the ears of the visiting fans.

FULL TIME BONNYTON 3 v 4 ANTS