A familiar face has returned to the club as the Fleet can confirm the appointment of a former No.1 favourite – Darren Smith – as goalkeeper coach.

Darren played 66 times between the posts for the Fleet in several spells across four seasons – from his debut against Dagenham & Redbridge in August 1997 through to his final game against Folkestone Invicta in April 2001. He featured in two Kent Senior Cup Finals with the Fleet, winning the second of them, and played alongside many of the team that would go on to win the Isthmian League title and promotion to the Conference.

A local boy educated at St John’s School in Gravesend, he was on the books of Gillingham before signing for the Fleet on his release in 1997, and he later played for Aveley, Chelmsford City, Heybridge Swifts, Dover Athletic and Needham Market before going on to carve out a successful coaching career.

He began that career with Ipswich Town’s academy, where he spent three years, before a move to West Ham United as the club’s Professional Development Phase Goalkeeping Coach. He returned to Ipswich after a season and worked his way up from Academy GK Coach to become the first team’s goalkeeping coach in 2018.

Darren has since landed first-team roles with Colchester United, MK Dons, West Ham Women, London City Lionesses and spent three years as International Goalkeeping Coach for the Welsh FA.

The new addition to Harry Watling’s backroom staff told the club website, “I’m incredibly excited to be back at Ebbsfleet United with the management staff at a football club. It’s an honour to be part of this team once again, and I can’t wait to contribute to its success.”