STILL MAKING WAVES, AT 73!
STRANDED in the Atlantic Ocean 400 miles off the Antigua coast isn’t exactly where you would expect to find a football club chairman – but then there’s noone quite like Oldham Athletic’s Frank Rothwell.
The 73-year-old Latics owner made history as the oldest man to row across the Atlantic unassisted three years ago, covering a remarkable 3,000 miles from the Canary Islands to Antigua and raising an impressive £1.1 million for Alzheimer Research. And now he’s doing it again.
Aboard his boat, named For A Cure, Rothwell set off on his latest voyage in December and can finally see the finishing line on the horizon. Indeed, come Wednesday or Thursday, the veteran circum-navigator will hope to finally complete his pain-staking mission.
But, unsurprisingly, the expedition has not gone without the odd hiccup along the way and just last Friday, his craft was left para-anchored and waiting for a change in wind direction in order to proceed.
So, sat in the middle of the ocean with just a satellite phone for company, Rothwell did what any intrepid football club owner would do in the same circumstances – call The NLP for a catchup, of course!
“We’ve had terrible conditions for ocean rowing,” Rothwell reported back.
“Three years ago, I completed this journey in 56 days. This time I expected to finish in 49 days but we’re now on day 51 and I’ve still got 400 miles to go!
“I’m going backwards now because the wind has changed direction and is blowing me the wrong way. I’m in a big current which is very contrary to the direction I was going, which is a bit of a pain.”
Indeed, it’s been far from an easy ride for the Latics chief, who has lost personal items at sea, capsized no fewer than three times and suffered both nausea and motion sickness.
However, for a man who left school aged 14 to repair tractors, then built a multimillion-pound business, has overcome prostate cancer and rescued his hometown club Oldham from bankruptcy after their relegation from the Football League in July 2022, he will not let these problems deter him.
“It’s hard on the body, and really hard on the mind, particularly when you start going backwards,” he adds. “The boat has rolled over three times! Hopefully the wind will change, but at the moment I’m 400 miles from Antigua sat here on an anchor.
Mission
“I throw a parachute and 100m of rope in the sea that holds the boat in this position against the sea.”
It’s in those moments Rothwell can think of the difference he is making in undertaking his mission.
Rothwell is raising money for Alzheimer’s Research UK in their bid to fund research to combat dementia.
It’s a cause close to Rothwell’s heart having lost his best friend, brother-in-law, and several close friends and relatives to dementia in recent years.
Last year, he raised £1.1 million and has so far collected £220,000 of his £1 million target with the football club backing his bid from the confines of Boundary Park.
“Dementia is becoming far more prevalent as we’re becoming older nations,” Rothwell explained.
“I’m 73 and rowing an ocean solo at an age where our parents’ generation died, so more people are living to old age and catching dementia.
“My best friend Phil died of Alzheimer’s, my brother-in-law Roger died when I was at sea last time, there’s five people in the last four years who are friends or relatives who have died from it.
“There’s more people dying of dementia than of any other disease in the UK, we all want to do some good if we can do for a cause.
“I’ve found a cause that I’m attached to and people are supporting me and donating very heavily.”
Family
Rothwell helped save his hometown National League club from the brink of extinction in 2022 and the fanbase, in turn, have rallied behind his charitable work.
Players wore Alzheimer Research UK’s logos during Oldham’s recent victory against Hartlepool United with the club also raising £12,000 through a kit auction.
And on February 24, the Latics are opening their doors for just £1 a ticket for their game against Kidderminster Harriers in order to give Rothwell a hero’s welcome.
“I can’t wait to come and meet all the fans and have a pint in the bar, and say hello to everyone,” he smiles. “One thing I’m missing is my wife’s dinner, all my family, and all of the supporters, and I can’t wait to see you all again, give you a wave and shake hands.
“The football club is well behind everything I’m doing. At Oldham we don’t have fans, we only have supporters, it’s a local family, and we couldn’t do this without the support of the local people, we have a fantastic set of supporters and thank you very much to them.
“It’s great to hear that the teams have picked up results while I’ve been away. Our target this season was to be in the play-off places, and after the first game we were rock bottom, but now we’re in the play-offs, and we’re 100% support behind Micky [Mellon] and his team who are doing brilliantly right now.”