In-depth with Corey Whitely – Bromley attacker believes late professional start will extend playing career

EXCLUSIVE
BY EDMUND BRACK
edmund@slpmedia.co.uk

Corey Whitely believes his late start in professional football will allow him to extend his playing career with Bromley.

Whitely has been an ever-present under Andy Woodman since the former Crystal Palace goalkeeping coach arrived at Hayes Lane.

He has started every game in the Ravens’ debut League Two campaign.

But the 33-year-old forward’s route to the EFL has not been the most straightforward.

Despite having trials with Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur as a youngster, his career began as a teenager in non-league football with Boreham Wood.

However, it was not until he was 25 that Whitely put pen to paper on a full-time deal.

Explaining his football background, Whitely told the South London Press: “A lot of the boys still think I’m 25 because of my baby face. I’ve

had an unusual way into professional football – it’s not like your average player.

“When I was 16, I broke into the first team at Boreham Wood.

“It was tough because it was an hour’s journey from where I lived.

“I would travel with the first team and then get home at 2am or 3am from a game, then I would have to be up for college and be with the academy at the same time.

“You burn yourself out. I was on the bench with the first team and coming on for the last five or 10 minutes in games.

“I made a silly decision. I went to the chairman at Boreham Wood and asked: ‘Can you take me out of the first team? I can’t do both’.

“I wasn’t making enough money to get a car or find another way of transport – I was doing it all by bus.

“I finished off college and I didn’t play football for two or three years – I just stopped.

“I was working in a supermarket and enjoying it. I had a few of my mates who used to work with me, and we used to have a bit of a jolly-up throughout the day.

“I didn’t take it seriously – it all just fell into place.

“I had a mate, Adrian Clifton, come out of prison. There was a programme with Ian Wright – it was called Footballers Behind Bars.

“He used to play for Dulwich and he told me to come down for a pre-season with Walthamstow.

“I signed for them for six months, and that’s where things picked up.”

Whitely has gone on to record close to 300 National League appearances during spells with Bromley, Ebbsfleet and Dagenham & Redbridge.

He won promotion from the fifth tier with the Ravens in the summer and notched up 85 goal contributions.

Whitely said: “It means a lot. In the National League, where I have made most of my appearances, I could say that I made a name for myself in that league.

“I’m 33 now, but I feel as though I have so many years ahead of me because I didn’t turn full-time until I was 25.

“I don’t have all of that wear and tear compared to others who have gone from academy football and straight into the men’s game.”

The majority of Whitley’s senior career has been spent with Bromley talisman Michael Cheek, with the duo at their third club together after playing in the same sides at Ebbsfleet and Dagenham.

The duo have played together more than 200 times, with Whitely setting up Cheek in the FA Trophy win over Wrexham and the play-off final win against Solihull.

Whitely added: “He’s a humble guy – he’s just like me.

“We’re not loud characters.

“We have a really good relationship, I’m pretty sure I have set up most of his goals throughout his career.

“Because we sometimes have a car share too, we have chats about it. Cheeky had never played in the league before. I have been at a league club but never really played any games.

“We have done it the so-called hard way. Getting promoted with a team and getting them into the league.

“We have that bond. He knows that if I get on that half-turn, he will already be off making a run – it comes naturally because we have played together so many times at different clubs with different types of games. I always know where Cheeky will be.”

While many of the Bromley squad, including his long-term team-mate Cheek, are experiencing their first EFL campaign, Whitely joined Newport in League Two at the start of the 2019 season.

The north Londoner made 10 League Two appearances before leaving on loan to Bromley and Boreham Wood for the next season- and-a-half.

“I learned a lot,” said the forward on his spell with the Welsh side.

“You try and take something from everything. The decision to go that far with the situation I was in – having a young family with kids – wasn’t the best idea.

“I changed my whole lifestyle. With things not working out, it was mentally tough as well, being alone all the time and not being able to see my family.

“It would have been different if I was playing all the time – I could have just focused on the game or training. Because I wasn’t getting a look in, everything was magnified by 10.

“I learned that if you find a club you’re happy at, be loyal. This place is my second home. I have been here for a long time and I still want to be here for a long time.

“I have grown with the club and made history with this club. I want to keep achieving things that haven’t been done before here.”

PICTUEES: KEITH GILARD