Portsmouth goalscoring legend's son secures short-term loan switch from Aldershot to where career started at Hawks

That's after Alfy Whittingham, son of one-time prolific PO4 marksman Guy, moved to Westleigh Park on an initial one-month loan deal from National League side Aldershot.

After being made aware playing time would be lacking at the Shots in the short-term at least, the 23-year-old has returned to the club where it all began for him in search of some much-needed minutes.

Whittingham was part of the Hawks' Academy set up at nearby South Downs College as a teenager, earning a place in and around Lee Bradbury’s first-team but failed to make the desired breakthrough.

But the Whiteley-raised midfielder has gone onto to establish himself as a National League operator in recent years, making 69 league appearances and scoring six times for Aldershot since arriving at the Recreation Ground from Hungerford in the summer of 2019.

Now, with Shots boss Mark Molesley making it clear his time on the field would be limited in the weeks ahead, Whittingham returns to the Hawks on a short-term deal eager to turn Paul Doswell's side's dip in form around in the short-term.

‘I know the club well, I grew up local, I was at South Downs College when I was younger,’ revealed Whittingham.

‘I didn’t get to play much when I was originally here, I was a young lad on the fringe of the first-team, I didn’t play much.

‘I’m looking forward to now coming here, getting games and helping the boys progress in the league.

‘I’m in a situation where I’m not going to play at Aldershot at the moment, they made that very clear, so for me, it’s my career, it’s my life, I need to keep myself fit and playing.

‘They didn’t want me at Aldershot at the moment so, for me, it’s a good club at Havant, it’s a good manager in Paul - I’ve known him for a long time - there’s a good squad as well so I want to come here, do my thing, work hard and pick up as many points as we can in the next month.’

Unlike retired former strike ace father Guy, who fired in 115 goals in 226 appearances across three playing spells at Pompey - where he also later returned as manager - Alfy operates as a central midfielder.

Hawks boss Paul Doswell is looking forward to working with Alfy Whittingham in what could be a brief stint, although he admitted it's too early to make a call on how long his Westleigh Park spell will prove to be.

Doswell said: ‘I think with Alfy it’s a case of getting that first month done. Aldershot are still going well, I think they’ve brought players in - that’s what happened - if they’re still going well and there’s not a chance for Alfy to get back into the 16 at Aldershot, I’m sure he’ll be happy to play here.

‘I think the first thing is we’ve got to see how this first month goes.’