How Wycombe Wanderers’s Adebayo Akinfenwa gained a cult following

Adebayo Akinfenwa has gained somewhat of a cult following in the United Kingdom for being the strongest player in the FIFA video game franchise, possessing a physique that wouldn’t look out of place on an American football field and most recently asking Liverpool‘s Jurgen Klopp ‘to hit him up on WhatsApp’.

The Islington-born forward, who helped Wycombe Wanderers earn promotion to the Championship this week, has never quite hit the heights of playing in the Premier League but has created a name for himself none the less.

The 37-year-old gym-lover became one of the most recognisable faces in English football’s lower leagues off the back of his status as the ‘strongest player in the world’. 

Wycombe Wanderers forward Adebayo Akinfenwa has gained a cult following in the UK

FIFA, the exceptionally popular video game by EA Sports, has consistently awarded Akinfenwa with the highest ‘strength’ since 2005, rating him 97 out of 100.

It makes sense considering he bench presses 180kg, which is almost twice his body weight and three times the body weight of his team-mate, midfielder Sammy Moore.

Known as ‘The Beast’, Akinfenwa stands 5ft 11in and weighs a whopping 120kg – that makes his body weight equal to that of England rugby hooker Tom Youngs.

Akinfenwa makes just as many waves on the pitch as he does off it. During his career, he has scored 132 goals in 393 matches.

He has never stayed at one club for longer than 30 months, having spells in England, Wales and Lithuania, but gains cult hero status wherever he pitches up.

Being somewhat of a journeyman, Akinfenwa has had two spells at Northampton Town, but has also played at Doncaster Rovers, Torquay United, Swansea City, Millwall and Gillingham.

Despite continually moving, he has, however, picked up various awards on the way. 

He has been named Player of the Year at Torquay United, Northampton Town, AFC Wimbledon and Wycombe over the last 14 years. He was also being named in the League Two Team of the Year – at 35 – when the Blues were promoted in 2017-18.

His career highlight is scoring against Liverpool in their FA Cup third-round clash in 2015

Despite being marginally famous throughout his career for his size, the striker reached a whole new level of stardom when he equalised for Wimbledon against his boyhood club, Liverpool, in an FA Cup third-round clash in 2015.

His moment of glory came in the 36th minute when Akinfenwa tapped a loose ball past Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet to level the score at 1-1.

For several glorious moments, an underdog upset seemed possible, with the ‘magic of the FA Cup’ in Wimbledon’s favour… until Steven Gerrard scored…