Akinfenwa’s joyous payback a delight
The legend of Adebayo Akinfenwa has never shied away from unprovable hyperbole. A few years ago, he was announced as “the strongest man in football” on a Fifa computer game. And on Monday evening he was hailed as providing “the best postmatch interview ever”. Big statements for a big personality.
If you have yet to see his reaction to Wycombe’s League One play-off win over Oxford then do go to social media or Youtube or however it is you receive your pithy visual content. There was a man, 38 years old, who could not believe that he had finally, after almost 20 years as a professional, reached the Championship.
“Tell me what we just did, because I don’t know,” he bellowed at Sky’s David Craig.
“You’ve just got your place in the Championship!” the interviewer responded.
“I don’t think they heard you in the back,” Akinfenwa yelled. “Tell me what we just did?”
Akinfenwa went on to thank God for “making the impossible possible” – who knew the special creator had a soft spot for the Chairboys? – and then, as a lifelong Liverpool fan, asked Jurgen Klopp to “hit me up on Whatsapp so we can celebrate together” (which, of course, Klopp later did).
Promised lands come in many shapes and forms and if Liverpool’s nirvana has been that first elite division title in 30 years then Wycombe’s is elevation to the second tier for the first time in their 133-year existence. Emotion fairly spilt out of the screen as Akinfenwa recalled when he last spoke to Craig at Wembley.
“Four years ago I stood in front of you here and I was technically unemployed,” Akinfenwa said, recalling AFC Wimbledon cruelly not renewing his contract despite scoring the winning goal in that League Two play-off final. “Football is all about opinions and four years ago someone gave their opinion on me.
“But I hope my story shows that the only opinion that matters is the one you have about yourself and I am lucky and blessed now to have a manager and players who believe in me. And so we are here today and I’ll say it again, Wycombe is in the Championship. WAIT! I’ll say it one more time, because the people at the back did not hear it – WYCOMBE IS IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP!”
Over the hill, over the weight limit, it is all water off a schmuck’s back for Akinfenwa. As a teenager, the Islington boy, weighing 16st at 6ft, was told he was too large to crack it, so had to move to Lithuania to find employment. As the first black footballer in A Lyga, he suffered sickening racial abuse, even from his own club’s supporters.
Nearly two decades on, the attacks depressingly still arrive.
After last week’s semi-final win, Akinfenwa claims he was called a “fat water buffalo” on several occasions by a representative of Fleetwood Town. “It dehumanises me as a black man by associating me to a water buffalo, a dark animal, in a derogatory manner,” Akinfenwa said on Twitter.
On Monday, Craig referred to the allegations and actually asked Akinfenwa: “Do you feel vindicated tonight with this?” Vindicated? Think about the absurdity of that notion and figure that yes, the education must continue with the media clearly at its forefront.
“Throughout my life I have had to deal with many forms of racial abuse, both overt racism as well as covert racism,” Akinfenwa said. “As a footballer, I have experienced the same throughout my career.”
It has been a journey of insults deep into cultdom. The discomfort in Akinfenwa being nicknamed “The Beast” is only slightly eased by the individual himself using the moniker in his branded “Beast Mode” clothing range. Far better to acknowledge Akinfenwa for what he truly is – a player who did not fit the orthodox identikit, but who refused to give up on his dream.
It is why the interview has gone viral. Away from the super clubs and financial fair play, there is the bulk of the pyramid featuring characters, both humble and flamboyant, with whom “real” people can genuinely associate.
The reason why Akinfenwa stands out is the reason why the fans feel he is one of them. That shared passion is everything.
‘My story shows that the only opinion that matters is the one you have about yourself ’