The Fleet can today announce that goalkeeper Mark Cousins has called time on his playing career as he intends to retire and take up a coaching opportunity with Championship club Ipswich Town.

The No.1 will stay on over the next two games to provide goalkeeping cover for the team, with his final match as a member of the squad coming on Tuesday night at home to Maidstone United.

The 38-year-old’s contribution to the club in his three-and-a-half-year service at the Kuflink Stadium is one that will be long remembered by Fleet fans. One of only three players in our history to win successive supporters’ player-of-the-year awards (pictured below), Cousins’ impact on the team was immediate as the National League South title was won in his first season.

Signed from Bromley, Cousins had previously played for Colchester United, Barnet and Dagenham & Redbridge but it was at the Fleet where he went on to amass the most appearances of his career, making more than 100 consecutive league appearances between the posts from 2022–24.

He marked his 100th game in the 0-0 draw at Boreham Wood where his clean sheet saved the Fleet’s National League status in 2023/24 and his most recent game earlier this month was his 155th appearance in all competitions. He also leaves us, of course, with that unique record of one goal scored by a goalkeeper at the Fleet!

Fleet boss Josh Wright said of Cousins’ retirement, “It’s been an absolute honour and privilege to firstly share the changing room and pitch with Mark but then to also manage such a top pro and all-round fantastic player and person. There aren’t many people in the game like Mark; he will be massively missed by all at the club and he’ll go down as one of the Ebbsfleet greats when you look back on his time here. He will be leaving an incredible legacy here and his impact has been extraordinary.

“He will always be a true inspiration to others that have and will continue to enter the Ebbsfleet United changing room, leaving a lasting impression. It’s the end of an era for Mark and we wish him nothing but the best and every success in the new role that he is taking up. He has had a career to be immensely proud of and I am confident he will go on to big things in his new job. Thank you for everything Cuzzo!”

And CEO Damian Irvine added, “The greatest compliment I can give to Mark and his tenure at this football club is that everything we needed and were looking for at the time he joined us, and everything he said he would deliver and provide for the club on and off the pitch, he has done – and more.”

A full tribute to our reigning player of the year will be published in Tuesday’s matchday programme against Maidstone.

In the meantime, the club would like to thank Mark for all he has done as our goalkeeper for the past three-plus years and wish him every success in his future career plans.

Hear from Mark Cousins below, who spoke to FleetTV shortly before the squad left for Grimsby: