1. How did you damage your front derailleur? I'm assuming it's the mechanical version, not the electronic as you mention friction shifting. This seems to have had a fairly narrow inner cage plate.
2. Any reason not to replace with another?
3. You mention the "Stubby". This has a rather wide inner plate.
4. Your 42X26 chainset has a 26 tooth difference. So a wide inner plate of almost any kind should work.
Having said that I've run old narrow inner plate "racing" fronts on chainsets with 20, 19, and 17 tooth differences for around 50 years with few problems. These include TA Cyclotourists of 50-45-26 and 49-46-26, and Sugino of 44-41-24.
An original Huret Jubilee front ran for awhile on the 49-46-26 TA but was replaced by a SunTour Cyclone (which broke at the mount), then by a SunTour Superbe. In 2010 the Superbe migrated to my Hilson with the 44-41-24 Sugino and has run perfectly ever since. The "delicate" Jubilee went back on the 49-46-26 TA which was just changed to the 50-45-26 chainset and still runs strong.
I need the narrow inner plate because of the 3- and 5-tooth differences in the "granny-spaced" larger rings. A wide inner plate hits the middle ring before it can shift to the large. A problem you won't have.
Bottom line is you can pick just about any front derailleur you like. Just don't replay the error that broke your Athena.
GAJett