“Mes Que Un Club” is a Catalan phrase. It means “More Than A Club” and it’s painted on the seats at the Camp Nou, home of FC Barcelona.
Many would consider Barça to be one of the greatest clubs in world football.
While I agree with that, I don’t believe that greatness is exclusive to those with the biggest fanbases or trophy rooms.
I’m a Cowdenbeath supporter (yes, there is at least one!). My mum’s family comes from Cowdenbeath and it was also the team my uncle and granda supported, so I decided to follow in their footsteps and become a Blue Brazilian.
But kids at my Glenrothes primary school – many of whom would support one of the Old Firm or an English Premier League team – were perplexed about my choice and would ask, “aye Cowdenbeath’s yer wee team, but who’s yer big team?”
My answer would be: “Cowdenbeath are my big team”.
Football means just as much to a supporter of a team with 500 fans as it does to a team with 50,000.
Just because no one at my school knew who Neil Russell, Willie Stewart or Sammy Conn were, didn’t mean they were any less a superstar to me at the time than Peter Schmeichel, Zinedine Zidane or Paolo Maldini.
‘Oh When the Saints’ reminded me of my family bonds to Cowdenbeath
Last week I attended a showing of Oh When The Saints at Perth Theatre, starring Colin McCredie and a community cast of St Johnstone supporters.
It was a fantastic production and everyone involved did the club and Perth proud.
The play is set on Saturday May 17 2014 and follows the story of a Saints fan called Billy Bell (McCredie) who, in an effort not to jinx his side’s Scottish Cup final match against Dundee United that afternoon, decides to walk to the top of Ben Lomond to hide away from the big game.
Once at the summit Billy realises he has cup final tickets belonging to his brother and niece in his back pocket which forces him to rethink his plans to avoid the match.
The story centres around the Scottish Cup final, but what it’s really about is family and how football brings people together.
I was lucky enough to be at Celtic Park that afternoon, standing behind one of the goals with my video camera, recording the match and the post-game celebrations.
Being on the pitch filming as Tommy Wright and Steven MacLean lead 15,000 Saints fans in a rendition of “Sweet Caroline” and seeing Dave Mackay become the first Saints captain to lift a major trophy gives me goosebumps looking back.
Watching Oh When The Saints brought that special day back for me and how much May 17 meant to everyone involved with the club.
‘My dad became a Cowdenbeath supporter the day I became one’
But it also reminded me about the family bonds that tie me to my team in Fife.
I have so many special memories growing up watching Cowden, like being behind the goal in 2001 as Craig ‘Toorie’ Winter headed home the winner with seconds to spare to win promotion at home to Brechin City, or watching the helicopter carrying the Third Division trophy flying over Central Park just before it was presented by Gordon Brown to skipper Innes Ritchie in 2006.
But looking back, what meant the most was the time spent with my dad, going to home matches together and travelling to all corners of the country seeing new places to cheer on Cowden from the away end.
Really positive to see so much transfer business underway at Central Park this summer and credit to club for that. Lots of young players with lots of potential so far. #BlueBrazil https://t.co/6HyspwuQ1d
— Ross Cunningham (@RCunningham_MMM) June 13, 2022
I have fond memories of getting up to Inverness early so we could try and spot Nessie in Loch Ness, eating a Forfar Bridie (highly recommended!) for the first time before heading to Station Park, and sitting in the car on the way home from away victories listening with pride when the results were read out before catching Off The Ball.
My dad, originally from Dundee, was never into football, but became a Cowdenbeath supporter the day I became one, and I’ll always be grateful to him for that.
My most treasured Cowdenbeath memory is with my late uncle
Cowdenbeath also makes me think of my uncle and how he would come to the games when I was a ballboy.
He would stand in the terraces behind the goal I would be covering and would give me £1 to spend at Woolworths after the match if I could guess the first goalscorer!
In 2000, he was admitted to hospital for a few days for tests but passed away due to a blood clot, leaving us all devastated.
The night before he died, my dad and I visited him in hospital and we brought a little surprise along for him.
Cowdenbeath had been playing earlier that day – a 3-0 win over East Stirlingshire – and my dad had filmed parts of the match on his new camcorder to show Ashley.
We played back the shaky highlights to him in his hospital bed while I did my best Dougie Donnelly impression to describe what was going on!
I left the ward not realising that would be the last time I’d ever see him.
After he was cremated, the club chairman at the time, Gordon McDougall, kindly allowed us to scatter his ashes around Central Park. I made sure some were scattered next to where he used to stand on the terraces close to the halfway line.
When I go to a home match I always think of him, and in every year that’s passed my mum will light a candle to mark the birthday of her older brother she misses every day.
I have so many great memories watching Cowdenbeath matches in the time since my uncle’s passing, but what will always mean the most to me is the memory of Ashley, my dad, and I all huddled around the camcorder in that hospital ward cheering Cowdenbeath on one last time together.
Mes que un club.
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