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Saheed Adebayo Akinfenwa (born 10 May 1982 in London) is an English professional footballer currently playing for Football League Two side Northampton Town.

He is a large and imposing forward with a sometimes physical style.

Life and career

As a teenager, Akinfenwa joined the Lithuanian club FK Atlantas on the advice of his agent, whose Lithuanian wife's brother knew a member of the coaching staff there.^[1] He spent two years at the club before returning to the UK early in 2003, where he joined Welsh Premier League champions Barry Town.^[2] However, after playing only a handful of games the club suffered a financial crisis and released its professional playing staff. Akinfenwa quickly joined Boston United in October 2003.^[3] Unable to settle, he moved to Leyton Orient the following month, but was released after one month.^[4] In December 2003 he moved to Rushden and Diamonds and in February 2004 joined Doncaster Rovers, his fifth club of the season.^[5]

In July 2004, Akinfenwa changed clubs again, signing for Torquay United.^[6] He scored 14 league goals during the 2004–05 season but was unable to help the club avoid relegation to League Two. He refused to sign a new contract with Torquay at the end of the season.^[7]

In July 2005, Akinfenwa moved to Swansea City, who were ordered to pay an £85,000 fee as compensation.^[8] He scored the winning goal in the 2006 Football League Trophy final, in which Swansea beat Carlisle United 2–1. He also helped Swansea reach the League One promotion play-off final in his first season. After a 2–2 draw, the match went to a penalty shoot-out but Akinfenwa was one of two Swansea players to miss with their penalties, granting promotion to Barnsley. He was a regular the following season, until a broken right leg in the 2–0 defeat at home to Scunthorpe United ended his season.^[9] This followed a fractured left shin the previous October.^[10]

At the end of the 2006–07 season, he rejected a new contract with Swansea,^[11] and agreed to sign for Swindon Town on 29 June 2007.^[12] However he failed a medical.

On 18 January 2008 Akinfenwa signed a deal with Northampton Town until the end of the 2007–08 season. He made his home debut against Leeds United, where he came off the bench to score the equaliser in a 1–1 draw. He started the following game, at home to Gillingham, and scored two goals in a 4–0 win. He scored three further goals that season.

On 30 May 2008, Akinfenwa signed a new one-year contract at Northampton despite declared interest from Leyton Orient and Grimsby Town.^[13] He started the 2008–09 season well, scoring twice in three games by the end of September.

Bayo was controversially sent off 24 February 2009 in the game at Brighton & Hove Albion for 'grappling and wrestling violently on the ground'. The club took this to a FA appeal, with the support of Brighton. The appeal failed and Bayo was consequently banned for an extra fourth match, as the FA felt the appeal was 'frivolous'. This has led to Northampton considering whether it is worth appealing against any other future bans.^[14]

References

External links

• Adebayo Akinfenwa career stats at Soccerbase
• Football Profile