Latics fans’ 92-club road trip for charity

ROAD trip . . . Latics fans (from left) Richard Attwood, Simon Colebrook, John Beard, Tracy Scoulding, Stephen Ackroyd and Paul Oakes outside Oldham Athletic. Pentagon Vauxhall will provide the cars.

A GROUP of Latics fans are aiming to be record breakers by driving to all 92 football stadiums in the country for charity — in less than three days.

The eight soccer-mad supporters will whizz around England — with a quick trip to South Wales — in two cars in a mammoth race against time, clocking up more than 2,500 miles.

While there is no official record, the team hope to beat a previous group of fastest fans who completed the tour in just over 76 hours — and plan to get the time recorded with the Guinness Book of Records.

They also hope to visit the national stadiums of Wembley and Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.

The intrepid fans set off on Friday, July 17, and are undertaking the adventure for Trust Oldham to raise money for The Samantha Jones Trust and raise awareness of the threat of skin cancer during the summer months.

They will take with them the famous “Ernie Flag” — created in memory of former Latics star Ernie Cooksey who died of malignant melanoma last year.

They hope to raise around £5,000 and also want to buy a memorial bench in tribute to Ernie to put in a scenic spot, and collect a child-friendly souvenir from each club that will be donated to the new children’s hospital in Manchester.

Taking part are Richard Attwood, Stephen Ackroyd, Simon Colebrook, Peter Wright, Mark Scoltock, Tracy Scoulding, Paul Oakes and John Beard.

Mr Attwood (32) said: “I have always fancied visiting all the football grounds and it’s something I have wanted to do for a charity.

“We are trying to do it in two cars so we can have a sleep in the back and we have a back-up support vehicle in case one breaks down.”

When Mr Attwood worked out a route last year he calculated it at 2,457 miles — but since then Torquay have been promoted to the football league, adding another hundred miles.

They plan to criss-cross the country, starting in East Lancashire then up to Carlisle, across to the North-East and down the East coast, back across through Yorkshire and then down through East Anglia to London, along the South coast and back up through Bristol. The exhausting journey will end with Rochdale before returning to Boundary Park.

Mr Attwood. “We’ve got six experienced drivers, and myself and two other lads have driven long distances before in Australia.

“Three days behind the wheel might get a bit tedious but it won’t phase us.”

The group looking for sponsorship as well as fuel cards or donations.

Call Mr Attwood on 07590- 696973 or visit www.justgiving.com/92inblue.