Gillingham fans stayed behind on Saturday to show their appreciation to their former striker Adebayo Akinfenwa.

The 39-year-old is retiring this season and came off the bench for visitors Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday. Even Gills chairman Paul Scally hung around to greet the popular former Gills forward.

Akinfenwa enjoyed two seasons with the Gills between 2010 and 2014, sandwiched inbetween a couple of years at Northampton. The Gillingham fans were keen to grab an autograph and a selfie after the game on Saturday, which ended 1-1.

Akinfenwa was still posing for pictures 20 minutes after the game had finished with some fans joking that the Wycombe team bus was going to leave without him.

Gills boss Neil Harris played with Akinfenwa for a short time at Millwall and says the front-man should be an inspiration to any aspiring footballer.

Harris said: “Bayo Akinfenwa is the best player I have seen in professional football at first contacts, certainly in the lower leagues, that first ball up is just impossible to get it off him. Bayo has made the most of his career, he has been an unbelievable pro, has got a real desire to want to do well and is a great shining example of all professional footballers and young strikers coming through.”

Akinfenwa wasn’t able to inflict any damage on the Gills during his last visit to Priestfield in the league.

Jack Tucker scored the equalising goal for Gillingham in the match, which finished 1-1, and Harris praised his own defender.

He said: “I praised Jack Tucker (in the dressing room) because at Accrington he got bullied by Colby Bishop. To an extent I had to dig him out at half time where I needed more from him, second half he tried, today when we moved to a back four he played against Sam Vokes and then against Bayo Akinfenwa and he handled it.”

Akinfenwa was once told he was too big to play football but went onto win promotion with Wimbledon and Wycombe, while building up a huge fan base.

During his two seasons with the Gills he proved to be a perfect partner for fellow striker Cody McDonald, helping his teammate to plenty of goals and scoring 21 in the league himself.