Latics support stays tribal in the Amazon

Simon Kenworthy (21) swapped shirts when he took part in a football match with an Amazon tribe

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OLDHAM Athletic expanded their global franchise all the way to the Amazon rainforest thanks to the help of a zoology student.

Simon Kenworthy (21), visited the Amazon as part of a second year field course in tropical biology for his zoology degree at the University of Manchester.

While out there he took part in a football match with one of the local tribes, the Kichwa, which saw the skills of the South Americans prove to be too much for the visitors, as they ran out 5-2 winners.

Bearing no ill will to the victors, the teams partied with beers and a local spirit called venti cinco afterwards . . . and that's when a little bit of Latics became part of the Amazon football scene as Simon swapped his Oldham Athletic shirt with one of the opposition players.

As part of the trip Simon, who lives in Stalybridge, spent three weeks in Ecuador and five days in the Bellavista cloud forest reserve where he studied hummingbird aggression, before travelling for two days to San Jose de Payamino in Ecuadorian Amazon where he stayed with the Kichwa community for nine days.

He studied amphibian biodiversity in relation to human disturbance in the area and near the end of the trip they had a community day which is when the football match took place.

Simon, who returned to the UK on July 7, said: "Living with the Kichwa was lovely. The university employs them as guides and cooks while we are there and they were a hell of a lot better at spotting frogs than me.

"They were very good at football with their South American skills but we did well too. We ended the game by buying them all a beer and we all shared some home-brewed yucca wine and venti cinco, a strong spirit. I have no idea what it is.

"The whole experience was very rewarding and I thoroughly enjoyed my research. I'd love to go back for a rematch."