Bradbury’s on the move for 19th time - and he’s only 25!
A former Pompey hopeful has returned home after joining his 16th different club at the age of 25.
Harvey Bradbury has enjoyed a nomadic career since graduating from the Blues’ Academy as a freescoring forward in the summer of 2017.
There have been stays at Watford, Oxford United and Millwall, while he featured three times in League Two for Morecambe.
However, the majority of his travels have involved non-league football and now the son of Lee Bradbury has linked up with the Hawks for a second time.
The 25-year-old was previously at Westleigh Park in the 2016-17 campaign on loan from Pompey, making a fleeting impression.
Now, more than seven years later, he has become Shaun North’s second signing since being appointed head coach earlier this month.
He follows Alfy Whittingham, son of Guy, into the Hawks, who will compete in the Southern League Premier South following this season’s relegation.
Bradbury represented three clubs in the 2023-24 campaign, starting with Dartford, before joining Farnborough in January for 73 days - then it was off to Chatham Town in March.
He scored twice in eight appearances for Chatham, who finished second in the Isthmian Premier before losing 3-0 in the playoff final to Enfield Town. Bradbury started that match alongside former Pompey midfielder James Dunne, but, following that defeat, has now departed the Kent-based club for a move far closer to his Portsmouth home. Other clubs in the much-travelled striker’s career, which totals 19 moves, include Gosport, St Albans (loan), Hungerford (loan twice), Woking (loan twice), Oxford City, Welling, Dorchester and Dartford (loan and then permanent).
For North, it represents early transfer business as he strives to mastermind a swift return to National League South after a disastrous season saw Hawks finish second from bottom. Jamie Collins and Steve King were both sacked before the end of November, with interim trio Cliff de Gordon, Ross Betteridge and Richard Pope restoring pride but unable to stop what looked an inevitable drop.