What do you think?
Rate this book
The Beast: My Story
For fans of books by Jimmy Bullard, Paul Merson, The Sidemen and the F2 Freestylers
Messi might be the most skilful, Ronaldo might have the best shot, but according to FIFA it's 16-stone Adebayo Akinfenwa who's the strongest footballer in the world.
With a larger-than-life personality to match, it's no wonder 'The Beast' has become an icon, attracting millions of social media followers, launching his own clothing label, and still banging in the goals for Wycombe Wanderers.
With such fame and adoration, it's easy to forget that Bayo is one of the hardest-working footballers around. His mental strength has had to be equal to his physical. Told by English clubs he was 'too big' to play football, he joined Lithuanian team FK Atlantas as a teenager where he faced widespread racial abuse. A career of grafting in the lower leagues of English and Welsh football followed, with spells at Barry Town, Torquay, Swansea, Gillingham, Northampton and AFC Wimbledon. Bayo's charisma and knack of scoring vital goals made him a fan favourite at each.
His last ever kick for the Dons was a penalty at Wembley to help win the club promotion. 'I think I'm technically unemployed,' he told an interviewer after the final whistle. 'So any managers hit me up on the WhatsApp and get me a job!'
Inspiring, entertaining and full of character, this is the story of how Akinfenwa became a true cult hero and the never-give-up attitude that made him the biggest footballer on the planet.
Messi might be the most skilful, Ronaldo might have the best shot, but according to FIFA it's 16-stone Adebayo Akinfenwa who's the strongest footballer in the world.
With a larger-than-life personality to match, it's no wonder 'The Beast' has become an icon, attracting millions of social media followers, launching his own clothing label, and still banging in the goals for Wycombe Wanderers.
With such fame and adoration, it's easy to forget that Bayo is one of the hardest-working footballers around. His mental strength has had to be equal to his physical. Told by English clubs he was 'too big' to play football, he joined Lithuanian team FK Atlantas as a teenager where he faced widespread racial abuse. A career of grafting in the lower leagues of English and Welsh football followed, with spells at Barry Town, Torquay, Swansea, Gillingham, Northampton and AFC Wimbledon. Bayo's charisma and knack of scoring vital goals made him a fan favourite at each.
His last ever kick for the Dons was a penalty at Wembley to help win the club promotion. 'I think I'm technically unemployed,' he told an interviewer after the final whistle. 'So any managers hit me up on the WhatsApp and get me a job!'
Inspiring, entertaining and full of character, this is the story of how Akinfenwa became a true cult hero and the never-give-up attitude that made him the biggest footballer on the planet.
- GenresFootball
288 pages, Paperback
Published October 30, 2018
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 5, 2019
Have had this book on my "To Read" shelf for a while and was looking forward to it as I thought it would be a decent read about life in the lower divisions, injected with a bit of good humour. Instead, Akinfenwa strikes me as a deeply egotistical, basically unlikable bloke. He seems to think every manager that didn't play him every week just felt threatened by him because he's so popular and such a "big personality". He mentions quite a few times he doesn't have many friends cos "He's from LondonMate, and has His Crew". He mentions the fact that he's big and nicknamed The Beast on basically every second page and gives the impression he couldn't give a fuck what team he played for as long as he's getting paid. Even the chapter about his time as a young player playing in Lithuania, which had the potential to be a really interesting story, seeing as he was the first black player ever to play there, and because of the racist treatment he suffered at the hands of his own fans, but even then the narrative is dull and I found it hard to have any connection with the player or his career at all. Another really annoying thing is the way he mentions the other teams that every player he mentions in the book also played for (e.g. Myles Weston (Notts County, Brentford, Southend United) ( The best, and possibly only redeeming feature of the book is the fact the writing is huge and there's only about 11 words on each page, so it didn't take much time to read. All in all, one of the worst football autobiographies I've read, and when you consider I've read 3 books about Kenny Sansom, that takes some doing!!
October 9, 2024
Page 218, bottom line
About Lyle Taylor: “He’s a very good footballer, but to me has the ability to act a bit like an infant”
This is probably the most hilariously hypocritical part of the book, and sums him up as a character. He comes across as very self-centred and has a bad attitude, like when he went to Lithuania and in his first game chose to stay on the coach because it was snowy.
About Lyle Taylor: “He’s a very good footballer, but to me has the ability to act a bit like an infant”
This is probably the most hilariously hypocritical part of the book, and sums him up as a character. He comes across as very self-centred and has a bad attitude, like when he went to Lithuania and in his first game chose to stay on the coach because it was snowy.
May 15, 2024
Akinfenwas book was definitely different.
What I liked in this book was the 11 of his favourite teammates near the end of the book. I wish more players did this in their autobiographies as I found it interesting. However, this book portrayed Akinfenwa like a spoilt child in some ways with how he reacted to certain things and how it feels like he thinks he is the greatest footballer and the hardest man in the room at all times. He seems quite thuggish in this book as well with how he literally wants to have a fight with everybody. In this book, he also shows no loyalty to players or managers and seems to move by clubs for the reason that is money. If it is just a little extra, he'll leave to go there just to get that little bit more. Overall, not the greatest read but it is a quick read and does give some insight into Akinfenwas life.
What I liked in this book was the 11 of his favourite teammates near the end of the book. I wish more players did this in their autobiographies as I found it interesting. However, this book portrayed Akinfenwa like a spoilt child in some ways with how he reacted to certain things and how it feels like he thinks he is the greatest footballer and the hardest man in the room at all times. He seems quite thuggish in this book as well with how he literally wants to have a fight with everybody. In this book, he also shows no loyalty to players or managers and seems to move by clubs for the reason that is money. If it is just a little extra, he'll leave to go there just to get that little bit more. Overall, not the greatest read but it is a quick read and does give some insight into Akinfenwas life.
April 1, 2018
I don't like football and I don't watch football so why did I pick up this book? Well I got the audible version reduced in a special offer and took a chance. I liked the narrator and I actually liked the book it was chatty and friendly and made me laugh in places; an achievement for someone who dislikes football.
February 27, 2019
Good insight to life of a footballer, growing up and moving to uncomfortable surroundings
Want to Read
February 6, 2020Good
August 2, 2020
Short review: what a horrible, self-centred, egotistical arsehole.
July 8, 2022
Maybe not the best written book, but it was fun getting more information on the life of Akinfenwa and how a lower league footballer lives his life.
September 7, 2022
Brilliant read!
March 17, 2018
2 stars not 1 because I did finish it and learnt something about football in the lower leagues. Akinfenwa play’s for Wycombe Wanderers at the moment and I have been a WWFC fan for 40 years + so I read the last chapter first.
Very badly written in very large print and simple English, the book follows AA through his football career along with all his fights and arguments. It did try to make stories out of nothing otherwise the book could have been 50 pages.
The one thing that did stand out was apart from Northampton Town he does not care for the football club he plays for but winning for himself. That’s fine but we all have this ridiculous idea the players who play for our team love our team. Not true.
Very badly written in very large print and simple English, the book follows AA through his football career along with all his fights and arguments. It did try to make stories out of nothing otherwise the book could have been 50 pages.
The one thing that did stand out was apart from Northampton Town he does not care for the football club he plays for but winning for himself. That’s fine but we all have this ridiculous idea the players who play for our team love our team. Not true.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews