In praise of subtly talented beast Adebayo Akinfenwa

If Adebayo Akinfenwa had weighed in under 12 stone like Jamie Vardy, he wouldn’t be making waves for a joyous post-match Wycombe interview, he would have been playing in the Premier League.

Akinfenwa’s upper-body strength has taken column inches away from his underrated finishing, honed on the street football cages of Islington, north London. He always had a knack for finding the right space, even if his scarred legs weren’t made for running the channels. Two leg breaks put paid to that while at Swansea. “You see the scar on his leg it looks like he has been bitten by a shark,” said ex-team mate Ryan Gilligan.

The post-Wembley repartee with Jürgen Klopp gained worldwide attention and focused on Akinfenwa’s Liverpool fandom, but The Beast (the title of his autobiography) was only half-joking with his flirtation with the greatest manager in England’s top tier. There’s always been a case of what might have been for Akinfenwa, who has all the attributes of a Premier League player – just maybe not in the right order.

This wasn’t Liverpool’s loss though but Arsenal’s, whose scouts missed out on a big talent coming from their manor. Imagine Akinfenwa bossing the box for Arsene Wenger and making space for the more subtle talents of Eduardo, Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosický in the late 2000s, the Gunners missing that X-Factor to hold the ball up and unlock matches.

Instead, Akinfenwa was giving his best years to Northampton Town, in League One, who took a punt on the striker who was deemed surplus to requirements at Millwall. This period shows the resilience of the man as it would have been easy to give into the pain and drift into non-league football. Instead, Akinfenwa, well managed by Cobblers boss Stuart Gray, began to find his feet and the back of the net once more. The highlight was a 2-1 win in the League Cup over Bolton Wanderers where Akinfenwa notched a brace and totally overwhelmed a Bolton defence including Gary Cahill. Fight him in the air and you’ll lose, give him space on the ground and he’ll score, and that night, a bandaged Akinfenwa put in the complete forward performance.

Later, the now England U-21 boss Aidy Boothroyd came to manage Akinfenwa at Northampton, culminating in a fateful 2013 play-off final at Wembley that saw him benched on an occasion tailor-made for him. The Northampton fans have never forgiven Boothroyd for not starting Akinfenwa on a day the Cobblers found themselves 3-0 down at half time to Bradford. Then there was ‘KFC-gate’ after Akinfenwa left for Gillingham when Boothroyd made the cheap shot of claiming he’d found KFC wrappers in Akinfenwa’s car. Bayo laughed it off, saying that he was more a Nando’s man, but the episode left him with more to prove than he actually had.

When Northampton found themselves in financial trouble, without hesitation Akinfenwa offered up the shirt he wore during his only career hat-trick to be auctioned for the cause. “I’ll do anything I can to help,” said Akinfenwa, a generous spirit that also typifies his team play. Of course the jersey was too large for the recipient to wear so it went in a frame instead.

His former teammate at Northampton – Gilligan – paid testament to Akinfenwa’s hard work in training: “Bayo was such a misunderstood character. He worked so hard, he’d be the first in the gym in the morning. With Bayo being brilliantly strong and healthy it benefited everyone’s game.”

That’s Akinfenwa, always trying to improve to get back to where he needed to be. Brilliantly, that is now in the Championship with Wycombe at the ripe old age of 38 after helping the Chairboys to a League One play-off final win at Wembley. Out came the champagne and the mobile phone message from Klopp.

He’s always been a big-game player and the national stadium the perfect stage. Akinfenwa even played in the equivalent of the FA Cup final during a stay in Lithuania for FK Atlantas early on his career. The big man’s always been moving, despite not being known for his mobility. Maybe it’s America next, the natural home for his larger-than-life personality. Whatever happens, Akinfenwa has had the last laugh on those that doubted him. It’s just a shame that the striker with the the Incredible Hulk torso and the Gerd Müller feet ever had a point to prove.

Tom Reed – follow him on Twitter