Adebayo Akinfenwa

**Last statistical update: 11:59, 9 November 2023 (UTC)**

**Adebayo Akinfenwa** is a footballer who played for **Hashtag United** (men).

Atlantas
In 2001, following contact via his agent's Lithuanian family member, the forward signed for A Lyga side Atlantas; initially on trial. He scorced his first goal for them - and therefore his first senior goal - in a 4–1 league win away to Inkaras on 8 April; he'd net against Inkaras again on 27 May and 28 September. On 19 May, Akinfenwa scored the only goal of the 2001 Lithuanian Cup final against Žalgiris. That earned the club a spot in the qualifying round of the 2001–02 UEFA Cup, where they met Romanian top-flight club Rapid București - Akinfenwa featured in both legs of a 12–0 aggregate defeat. He'd later net a brace versus Geležinis Vilkas on 12 September. Alongside his 6 goals, Akinfenwa made 27 appearances in Lithuania for Atlantas.

Laisvė Šilutė
In 2002, Akinfenwa scored goals against Lietava and Šiauliai in the 2002–03 Lithuanian Cup for second tier team Laisvė Šilutė. He would leave Lithuania shortly after, later revealing that he was subject to racial abuse whilst playing in the European country.

Barry Town
Akinfenwa's next step would be to Wales, as the forward joined Premier League side Barry Town on 21 March 2003. The move was motivated by chairman John Fashanu's wish to give Nigerian (born or of heritage) players a chance to impress. He helped Barry Town secure their second consecutive league title in 2002–03 after netting six goals across seven starts and one substitute appearance. He featured just once in the following league campaign, though did appear twice in the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round as the Welsh outfit were eliminated by Macedonian champions Vardar; losing 4–2 on aggregate.

Boston United
In mid-2003, Akinfenwa would return to his homeland after joining English Third Division team Boston United. He scored on his competitive debut, netting in an LDV Vans Trophy first round win over Swindon Town on 15 October. Akinfenwa played in league matches versus York City, Southend United and Torquay United to end the month, though would depart Boston soon after.

Leyton Orient
After leaving Boston United, Akinfenwa would move to fellow Third Division side Leyton Orient on a one-month contract. After debuting in the FA Cup first round against Grantham Town and then appearing in a league draw at home to York City, the forward's deal was not renewed by manager Martin Ling; who saw Akinfenwa as his fifth choice striker.

Rushden & Diamonds
A move to Rushden & Diamonds of the Second Division soon occurred. However, Akinfenwa would not officially feature for the team that would later end the season relegated.

Doncaster Rovers
Akinfenwa, on 18 February 2004, would join his fifth club of the 2003–04 season by signing with Third Division side Doncaster Rovers. After appearances versus Swansea City and Cheltenham Town, he scored his first Doncaster goal in a 1–1 draw at home to Darlington on 20 March. In April, Akinfenwa would score in three straight matches against Bury, Bristol Rovers (a match he was later sent off in) and Cambridge United as he helped the club end the season as champions and win promotion to the newly-created League One.

Torquay United
Akinfenwa would remain in League One, though not with Doncaster Rovers as he agreed to move to Torquay United; who had finished two places and 11 points behind Doncaster Rovers as they themselves won promotion. Akinfenwa would scored 16 goals in his first League One campaign, with the forward notably scoring home-and-away against ex-club Doncaster; in a 2–2 away draw on 16 October and in a 2–1 home victory on 5 February. The 2004–05 season, which saw Torquay relegated via goal difference as Doncaster finished in the top half, saw the forward score his first braces in English football; versus Yeovil Town (cup), Swindon Town and Peterborough United respectively.

Swansea City
Ahead of the 2005–06 campaign, Akinfenwa remained in the third tier after signing with newly-promoted Swansea City. He made a goalscoring start after netting on debut against Tranmere Rovers on 6 August, which was shortly followed up with his first Carling Cup goal versus Reading on 23 August. In his first season with Swansea, Akinfenwa scored 15 goals in all competitions - including five in the club's triumpant run in the LDV Vans Trophy, which they won after defeating Carlisle United in the final with an Akinfenwa winner on 2 April 2006 at the Millennium Stadium. Swansea would play at that same stadium to end the season as they reached the play-off final, though they would lose to Barnsley via a penalty shoot-out; as Akinfenwa missed his spot-kick.

In 2006–07, Akinfenwa started the season with a fifteen-match goalless streak in all competitions. He belatedly notched in an FA Cup second round tie away to Darlington on 2 December. Later that month, on 23 December, the forward scored his first league goal in a home draw with Rotherham United. Akinfenwa would net further goals against Brentford, Bradford City, Gillingham and former team Doncaster Rovers between early January and mid-February, though his season would end on 20 February as he suffered a serious injury in a home loss to Scunthorpe United. Swansea would go on to miss the play-offs by 3 points.

Millwall
After rejecting a new contract with Swansea City, Akinfenwa belatedly secured a move to fellow League One team Millwall; penning a month-to-month contract on 15 November 2007. He failed to score in 9 matches in all competitions, participating in his final match for them on 5 January 2008 in the FA Cup away to Walsall.

Northampton Town
After a disappointing stint with Millwall, Akinfenwa remained in League One after joining Northampton Town on 18 January 2008. He netted three goals in his first three matches for Northampton, as a goal on debut on the road versus Swindon Town was followed by strikes against Leeds United and Gillingham. A brace versus Walsall and a solo effort against Tranmere Rovers saw Akinfenwa end the 2007–08 season with 7 goals in 24 total appearances for Millwall and Northampton; the latter finished 9th and 14 points clear of Millwall. In 2008–09, Northampton suffered relegation despite Akinfenwa scoring 15 times across league and cup; which included doubles against Cheltenham Town, Bolton Wanderers and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Akinfenwa remained with Northampton in League Two, though the club would fail to win promotion back at the first attempt. He made 44 appearances and scored 17 goals - as he again notched a brace over Cheltenham Town, and also versus Crewe Alexadra - in his third and final campaign with Northampton. He turned down a contract offer from the club.

Gillingham
Akinfenwa joined Gillingham, a team just relegated from League One to League Two on 29 July 2010. He scored on his debut in the league against Cheltenham Town on 7 August, prior to netting in high-scoring defeats against Bury (5–4) and Accrington Stanley (7–4). Akinfenwa then added 7 more goals to his tally for 2010–11, as Gillingham secured an 8th-place finish - missing the play-offs due to goal difference. He departed at the conclusion of that season.

Northampton Town
Akinfenwa, on 25 May 2011, rejected a new deal with Gillingham in order to rejoin Northampton Town of League Two. He scored 9 goals between August and January, before going through a run of 7 goals in 5 games between 21 February and 10 March after netting against Macclesfield Town, Port Vale, Cheltenham Town, Bristol Rovers (2) and Aldershot Town (2). Further goals came versus Crewe Alexandra and Rotherham United as Northampton placed 20th; just 4 points clear of relegation. In 2012–13, Akinfenwa bagged 17 goals in 51 games - including his sole professional career hat-trick away to Accrington Stanley on 10 November 2012 - as Northampton successfully reached the play-offs - though they would lose 3–0 to Bradford City in the final at Wembley Stadium on 18 May 2013.

Gillingham
July 2013 saw Akinfenwa again rejoined a former club, as the forward returned to the Priestfield Stadium with 2012–13 League Two champions Gillingham. He made his second debut for the club on 3 August in a home loss to Colchester United, while the first goal of his second stint came two appearances later in a league draw with Brentford. The forward would scored 9 goals in 37 matches in one season back with 17th place Gillingham, as he took his overall tally with them to 83 appearances and 21 goals.

AFC Wimbledon
In June 2014, Akinfenwa dropped back down to League Two League Two to sign with AFC Wimbledon. 15 goals would come his way in 2014–15 as his new team finished 15th. His second campaign with AFC Wimbledon concluded with promotion as they beat Plymouth Argyle in the end of season play-off final, having finished 7th in the regular season after Akinfenwa netted 8 times in 42 fixtures in league and cup; including one in the play-off semi-final second leg versus Accrington Stanley and one in the final itself, which they won 2–0.

Wycombe Wanderers

Despite AFC Wimbledon's promotion to League One, Akinfenwa would remain in the fourth tier after joining League Two's Wycombe Wanderers. In 52 matches, the forward struck 18 times across 2016–17. 2017–18 would end with promotion to the third division as Wycombe finished 3rd as Akinfenwa contributed 18 goals; notably netting doubles versus Port Vale, Grimsby Town and Cheltenham Town. Akinfenwa would score 18 tomes across the next two seasons in League One, with the latter 2019–20 with promotion to the Championship; after Wycombe were sent up via a points-per-game mechanism, following the season's curtailment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Akinfenwa made his first Championship appearance on 17 October 2020 at home to ex-club Millwall. He would go on to feature 35 times that season, prior to scoring his first English second tier goal on the final day of the season against Bristol City on 21 April 2021; though relegation was also confirmed on that day. Akinfenwa stayed with Wycombe for one season back in League One (netting 6 times in 39 games as they reached the play-off final; lost to Sunderland) before retiring from professional football.

#### HTU

2022–23
After many years of rumours that Akinfenwa would join Spencer Carmichael-Brown's team, Akinfenwa eventually donned the HTU colours on 11 July 2022 as he started a pre-season friendly at the Len Salmon Stadium against Walthamstow. It was initially unclear how long he played for or under what circumstance he appeared as the club did not announce or even mention his participation in the fixture. HTU belatedly confirmed on 21 July that Akinfenwa had indeed featured for them, citing privacy reasons for not revealing the news sooner. It was also announced that Akinfenwa would not be joining full-time due to the player's personal schedule and potential injury issues caused by the 4G surface at HTU's home ground. It was shown that Akinfenwa featured for the entire first half before being substituted off.

#### Post-HTU

Faversham Town
On 11 March 2023, Faversham Town of the Isthmian League - South East Division revealed that Akinfenwa had come out of retirement to join the club. His debut arrived later that day in a 2–1 loss at Lancing, as he started before being subbed off for Shola Ayoola on 45 minutes. His 2nd, and final, showing came as a substitute - as he took Ayoola's spot on 51 minutes - on 25 March in a home defeat to Sittingbourne.

### International

After joining Welsh Premier League side Barry Town in 2003, chairman John Fashanu revealed that Akinfenwa would be called up by Nigeria in their next squad in order to cap-tie him from playing for England; though that did not materialise.

## Personal Life

Akinfenwa joined BT Sport as a pundit on 30 September 2022.

## HTU Statistics

Breakdown

'*Other Cups' includes competitions like the FA Trophy, the FA Vase and friendly tournaments. See also: HTUwiki:DataIssues.*

Appearance (1)
Hashtag United  v  Walthamstow

## External Links

* Soccerbase
* Soccerway
* Wikipedia
* World Football

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "Adebayo Akinfenwa (g. 1982 m.)" .
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "WPL career details for Adebayo Akinfenwa" (archived) .
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "You Can Only Hope to Contain Him: How Adebayo Akinfenwa Became Soccer's Cult Hero" , 9 January 2015.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Barry sign second Nigerian" , 21 March 2003.
5. ↑ "Orient release Akinfenwa" , 2 December 2003.
6. ↑ "Jackett hands deal to Akinfenwa" , 15 November 2007.
7. ↑ "Adebayo Akinfenwa: Wycombe striker eyes 'beautiful Wembley ending' before retirement" , 11 May 2022.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "AKINFENWA PLAYS FOR HASHTAG!" , 21 July 2022.
9. ↑ "TOWN SIGN THE BEAST" , 11 March 2023.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Faversham Town - Appearances - Adebayo Akinfenwa - 2022-2023" .
11. ↑ "BT Sport just went 𝗕𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗠𝗢𝗗𝗘" , 30 September 2022.