Adebayo Akinfenwa opens up on horrific racist abuse – ‘followers wished to shoot me’
EXCLUSIVE: Adebayo ‘The Beast’ Akinfenwa endured horrific racist abuse during the early days of his professional career when the Football League hero cut his teeth in Lithuania
Adebayo Akinfenwa opened up about the shocking racist abuse he suffered during the early days of his career.
‘The Beast’ became a cult hero in the Football League, with fans from across the divisions taking to the striker who truly lived up to his nickname on the pitch. But Akinfenwa’s journey was far from easy, as he cut his teeth in professional football in Lithuania.
Leaving Watford’s academy, Akinfenwa made the bold career decision to move to a different culture, language, and football environment in Lithuania, joining FK Atlantas.
While the decision from a footballing perspective paid off, he had to handle a torrent of racist abuse from the stands. Speaking exclusively to the Daily Star Sport as Tony’s Chocolonely’s first official Bar Breaker, Akinfenwa recalled the vile abuse.
He said: “I can go back to Lithuania, and dealing with my first game, it was dealing with racial abuse. There were fans saying they wanted to shoot me.
“There was a chant: ‘Shoot me because of the colour of my skin.’ That was at 18 and that was the situation that if I close my eyes, it’s like it was yesterday.”
While playing in Lithuania, ‘The Beast’ scored the only goal in the Lithuanian Cup final in 2001, and played in the UEFA Cup qualifying rounds. Akinfenwa had to call upon his strong mental resilience as his move to Lithuania came after facing rejection throughout his teenage years.
“I believe everybody’s got a different autobiography, everybody’s got a different path and story,” Akinfenwa continued. “I was like no different to any other kid that wanted to play the game, I was going on trials, getting the same old, you know, too big to play football.
“I always stand by. I can’t give anybody that comes in my life on a temporary basis, permanent status. So I was like, look, wherever I need to go. What I need to do.
“So I went out to Lithuania, and that was the start, and I guess those moments shaped me for what then came afterwards. A different path, but yeah, a different beginning.”
Akinfenwa went on to score 224 goals in the Football League during his 20-year career, with a further 21 coming in cup competitions.
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Find out more on the campaign and join the mission via the Tony’s Chocolonely Youtube here .
