'I played with Shearer - now I'm chasing FA Cup upset after son's Strictly exit'
Best foot forward, Tommy Widdrington's son Kai led former newsreader Angela Rippon a merry dance on this season's Strictly.
And if Aldershot Town's bounty hunters cause another FA Cup upset against Stockport County on Sunday, it will put another spring in the their manager's step. Rippon sent the chattering classes into meltdown by showing off her legs on the Morecambe & Wise Christmas show almost half a century ago, and six months short of her 80th birthday she was a revelation again as Kai's partner in the Strictly ballroom.
Now the Shots, whose seven-goal demolition of Swindon last month also made the earth move, will warm the cockles of Hampshire's cha-cha-chattering classes in frosty Hampshire if they turn over the League Two leaders in the second round. Widdrington, who played with Alan Shearer and Matt Le Tissier at Southampton back in the day, couldn't be happier that his twinkle-toed son is now the most famous member of the family.
“I'm immensely proud of Kai and what he's done,” said former Saints defender Widdrington, now 52. “What they did, Kai and Angela, was a fantastic tribute to the show itself and to dance in the manner she did, in her 80th year, was incredible.
“I have three children, and I'm proud of them all, but he's the one in the limelight and good luck to him. He was a canny footballer as a schoolboy and, around the age of 12 or 13, he had to make a choice between football and dancing because he was offered a deal at Southampton, but even at that age his heart was set on the dance floor.
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Aldershot boss Tommy Widdrington's son Kai is one of the pros on Strictly Come Dancing (BBC)“He still loves his football, and he's a massive Saints fan, but he's now in the Premier League of his own profession. I didn't get the chance to go and watch any of the Strictly shows live this season, because I'm obviously occupied most Saturdays in this job, but I have been previously and as a live show it's a breathtaking spectacle.
“I can always catch up with it on the iPlayer – and you don't need to have your own son performing in it to understand why it's still one of our most-watched shows on TV.” Widdrington's other son, Theo, is a midfielder now on the books with his old man at Aldershot, although injury will prevent him playing against Stockport this weekend.
It's not the first time father and son have ended up at the same club as manager and player, but he's always going to be labelled 'Daddy's boy' – which couldn't be further from the truth. “He's here despite him being my son, not because his dad's the gaffer, but he's shown – in the games he's played so far for us – that he's worth his place in the team.”
Widdrington speaks to the Mirror's Mike Walters about Aldershot's FA Cup tie with Stockport County (PHILIP COBURN)The cut and thrust of an FA Cup tie at the quaint but atmospheric EBB Stadium could not be further removed from Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood's snooty remarks about posture or footwork. Long before AFC Wimbledon rose from the ashes of the Crazy Gang carcass, Aldershot were the original phoenix club.
It took them 16 years, after the original Shots folded in 1992, to regain Football League status after the reborn club started from scratch at ground zero on the snakes and ladders board – unlike a certain franchise – although they are now back in the fifth tier. Widdrington says they didn't get enough credit for their renaissance, and attributes their rise to the courage which is part of the town's make-up.
“This place is the home of the British Army, who send young men to war for us, so to represent this club you need a certain steeliness, discipline and bravery,” he said. Stockport may need a stiff upper lip to keep the Shots at bay.
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