MARIA
MARCHETTI is 7 years old and on her bedroom wall
hangs a Cowdenbeath FC clock and a picture frame
full of autographed Cowden FC programmes and photos.
Not too many 7 year old girls in Cowden (if we are
being totally honest here) can boast such a collection,
until you realise that this 7 year old girl actually
lives in ASHINGTON, Northumberland ! The reason
for this is that family friend MICK HYDES moved
up to Cowden a couple of years ago and still lives
in the town, hence Cowden becoming Maria’s
favourite Scottish team.
In March of this year, when she was still only 6
years old, Mick received a rather bizarre phone
call at his work in Cowdenbeath. It was a call from
WENDY, Maria’s mum, who was asking Mick to
have a word with Maria to try and calm her down.
The reasons for this ? … we shall explain in
a moment.
In
Ashington, most schoolkids have an interest in football.
There are the obvious choices of a favourite team
in Ashington, Newcastle or Sunderland or any other
Premier team for that matter. Strips and scarves
are worn in the playground and our Maria proudly
wears her Cowden scarf every day. Tales of Maria’s
allegiance to Cowden from the teachers to her parents
are legendary with the most famous being the World
Cup 98 class discussion. When most kids answered
Germany or Brazil, Maria answered "Cowdenbeath"
to the question of who would win it !
Getting
back to that phone call - one day an older boy in
the playground tried to tease Maria by pulling her
scarf and saying that "Cowdenbeath were rubbish"
…… ..ONE BIG BAD MISTAKE!!! One punch
and one kick to the head later, this boy was left
lying terrified on the ground with Maria screaming
"Cowdenbeath are NOT rubbish" at him.
Then enter a teacher, 2 sets of parents, and a social
worker with a meeting in the Heads office and a
phone call from Ashington to Cowdenbeath to sort
it all out.
Her
father ALF, took her on a trip up the A1 a month
later for Maria’s first Cowden match. She ran
out of the tunnel as Cowden’s mascot with her
new pal Toorie Winter in an away match at Berwick.
Uncles Gary and Les also witnessed the event.
Like
the daft lads of the 70’s, Maria’s the
Cowden fan of the new millennium :- YOUNG MENTAL
(and mad about) COWDEN.
This articles was originally published in the When The
Sun Shines fanzine
When
The Sun Shines is an independent magazine written by the supporters,
for the supporters. Any
opinions expressed in this page is not the opinion of any players
or officials directly or indirectly connected to Cowdenbeath
Football Club.
MARIA
MARCHETTI is 7 years old and on her bedroom wall
hangs a Cowdenbeath FC clock and a picture frame
full of autographed Cowden FC programmes and photos.
Not too many 7 year old girls in Cowden (if we are
being totally honest here) can boast such a collection,
until you realise that this 7 year old girl actually
lives in ASHINGTON, Northumberland ! The reason
for this is that family friend MICK HYDES moved
up to Cowden a couple of years ago and still lives
in the town, hence Cowden becoming Maria’s
favourite Scottish team. 
Getting
back to that phone call - one day an older boy in
the playground tried to tease Maria by pulling her
scarf and saying that "Cowdenbeath were rubbish"
…… ..ONE BIG BAD MISTAKE!!! One punch
and one kick to the head later, this boy was left
lying terrified on the ground with Maria screaming
"Cowdenbeath are NOT rubbish" at him.
Then enter a teacher, 2 sets of parents, and a social
worker with a meeting in the Heads office and a
phone call from Ashington to Cowdenbeath to sort
it all out. 