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Adebayo Akinfenwa has revealed how Faversham manager Sammy Moore convinced him out of retirement.
The popular big striker was playing in League 1 for Wycombe last season but his Town home debut certainly didn’t go to plan on Saturday at Salters Lane.
Sittingbourne substitute Harrison Pont - a defender by trade who replaced keeper Harley Earle after the teenager injured himself when fouling Lilywhites substitute Matt Parsons for a late penalty - saved Akinfenwa’s stoppage-time spot-kick as Town lost their Isthmian South East derby 1-0.
Akinfenwa played at AFC Wimbledon with Moore, who tempted “The Beast” to put his boots on again.
He told KentOnline: “I’ve known Sammy and his family for years.
“Our kids know his kids and he knew that I’d been retired and knew about my knee, but he said ‘Is there anything you can do?’.
“I think, when he asked me, he didn’t envisage I’d miss a last-minute penalty!
“But because we are close, he convinced me to come and try to give a little something back.
“Unfortunately, it didn’t go the way I wanted in the first home game but there’s five cup finals to go.”
Another with previous connections to Akinfenwa is coach Darren Hare, who worked with him at Gillingham.
“He’s another good person and I always say it’s about energy and frequency,” said Akinfenwa.
“Tomorrow isn’t promised so, when you do meet good people, it’s important you do try and stay in touch, and that’s what I have done.”
Akinfenwa has enjoyed being part of the Town changing room but concedes he’s struggled to deal with the knee issues which caused him to hang up his boots.
He said: “It doesn’t matter what level it is, there’s always a togetherness and an energy - and that’s what a changing room is.
"For somebody who is a seasoned professional, the way everybody has taken to me, it’s a beautiful feeling.
“That’s one thing that you can’t emulate in any other walk of life, so that’s a nice feeling.
“But I retired because of my knee and I can already feel it again now!”
Akinfenwa was introduced against the Brickies off the bench and enjoyed his physical tussle with Sittingbourne skipper Joe Ellul, a defender recently at Maidstone.
“For me, anything where there’s a battle always brings a smile out of me,” he said.
“I had some fun.
“I’m always a competitor and that will never leave me in anything I do. It was fun.
“The penalty kick wasn’t, but everything up until that was fun.”
Akinfenwa’s "Beast" branding has ensured he has a massive social media presence. He has more than 250,000 Twitter followers and more than one million followers on Instagram.
That helped add extra interest for Town’s big Swale derby, which attracted a bumper crowd of 671.
But Akinfenwa said: “I’m not arrogant enough to say all the fans came to see me be part of it.
“It’s not a circus.
"I came here to try and help win the game, and I’m just disappointed in myself for the cockiness I had at the end. I’m not saying I didn’t take it seriously but I was cocky.
“I thought I’d scored before I even took the penalty and that was wrong of me. But you don’t dwell.
“It’s a great club here and they have great fans.”
Even the arrival of Akinfenwa - who made his bow in a 2-1 loss at Lancing - looks like it won’t be enough to stop the Lilywhites from suffering relegation.
They’re eight points behind third-bottom Haywards Heath, who they are yet to play at home, with a visit to basement boys Corinthian to come.
But asked if Faversham could survive, Akinfenwa replied: “100%.
"We’ve still got to play some of the teams around us.
“They’ve got some tough games and we have a tough game this weekend against Beckenham.
“We’ve got to go for broke. But we’ll just take it a game at a time.
“I truly believe, with Sammy at the helm and the togetherness among the boys, you just need to start believing and one win can change everything.”
