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.
And, even though Sunderland's win took some of the gloss off his big day, Akinfenwa was gracious in defeat and also proud to have brought his playing days to a close at the national stadium, saying: "I'm proud of the boys and I'm proud of this team - I really am and I thank each and everyone of them for allowing me to be a part of this journey.
"I wanted it to end differently than it did but, to be fair, Sunderland were the better team on the day and that happens in football sometimes and, at the end of the day, after 22 years in the game, I ended it at Wembley. I didn't think I'd still be playing at 40, but I have been blessed - I have - and my last kick of a ball was at Wembley.
"Despite my feelings today, I'll celebrate my achievement getting here and the achievement of becoming a professional footballer, but it's done for me now. My knees have been screaming for 15 months and I always wanted to be able to leave the game on my terms.
"There would have been another better way to leave than this because we could have won but, other than that, I guess, this is the second best way to leave the game at Wembley."
Akinfenwa also reckons the unfashionable Chairboys are capable of mounting another promotion challenge next term under manager Gareth Ainsworth in a division awash with so-called bigger outfits.
"We can also be proud," the man nicknamed 'The Beast' reasoned. "Nobody thought we would be here and, with the gaffer and those boys, they will come back again next season and they will have success.
"From the top to the bottom, they are a unique club. They are going to be alright I promise you.
"I couldn't have achieved what I have without them, so I thank each and everyone of them from the chairman, to the cook, to the fans for allowing me to be part of the journey and, trust me, they are going to go on from strength to strength."
Asked what is next for him, Akinfenwa smiled: "I'm looking to take on the world." He then reflected on the secret of his success as a footballer, pointing out: "It's not been about proving people wrong, it's been about proving myself right.
"That's all it was. I just wanted to be apologetically myself. I wanted to be a professional footballer and I wasn't going to allow anybody to tell me no and I've enjoyed it."
