Tuesday night at the San Siro was Inter Social Night.

It was an effort to bring fans from all over the world together with those inside the stadium. And on a night when the club were playing a less glamorous rival at home on a Tuesday night, Inter decided to do as much as possible to create a buzz.

The plan was to make the game accessible to as many fans as possible. That meant designating a part of the ground to host the evening, where fans could pay €50 to get access and a t-shirt along with their matchday ticket. A host of influencers were enlisted or invited along to the stadium, and the club made sure to give them something to talk about.

And then came the moment when the club made their big splash: before kick-off, it was revealed that instead of normal names on the backs of their shirts, Inter’s players would have their social media handles printed instead.

???? | It's #InterSocialNight today at San Siro!

The changing room has been set up with some special shirts…????#InterCagliari #ForzaInter pic.twitter.com/MVJjYa7n2e

— Inter (@Inter_en) April 17, 2018

That well and truly made a splash.

It was always going to be a divisive move: there are plenty of football fans who see social media encroaching into the game and dislike it. Football fans have a high cringe detector, and not everyone knew that it was #InterSocialNight or knew what the club was trying to achieve.

But, then again, that was probably part of the plan. In order to gain some sort of social media awareness of your pre-arranged festivities, why not do something viral worthy, something you know is going to cause a stir, and then amplify it even further with the influencers you’ve invited to cover the game in the first place?

???????? | Of course, we'd never play around with the shirt numbers/names as @bambam9oficial can tell you… #InterSocialNight #InterCagliari #ForzaInter pic.twitter.com/enh0ov0Ohb

— Inter (@Inter_en) April 17, 2018

It worked. Football fans on Twitter on Tuesday night didn’t need to be Inter fans – or even Serie A fans – to see it. The images were shared all over the platform and beyond. Whatever you think of the idea, it worked. And in the end, it’s only a one-off (we hope!)

Check out behind the scenes with @inter on our Instagram story ????
???? Instagram/officialdugout#InterSocialNight ????⚫ pic.twitter.com/ZxSwZ2LsMz

— Dugout (@Dugout) April 17, 2018

my favoriteeeee @Rafinha @Inter_en #ForzaInter #intersocialnight pic.twitter.com/PbEIgGZXi2

— J (@longlivebuzztin) April 17, 2018