Veteran striker Adebayo Akinfenwa admitted the best side won as Sunderland ruined his retirement party following their 2-0 League One play-off final triumph over Wycombe Wanderers.
Powerhouse 40-year-old striker Akinfenwa brought the curtain down on his unconventional career after coming on as a 75th-minute substitute during the Wembley showdown against the Black Cats. His team were trailing 1-0 to Elliot Embleton's first-half goal at the time and, just four minutes later, Ross Stewart doubled that advantage to secure Sunderland's return to the Championship after a four-year absence.
Akinfenwa battled against racism as a player in Lithuania early in his career amid doubts that his muscular, 16-and-a-half stone frame was not suited to a career in the game in this country. But he bowed out under the Wembley arch having scored 221 goals in 752 games at Football League level, including spells at the likes of Swansea, Millwall and Northampton.
