The man who fired the Fleet into the National League from this division in 2017 via a promotion final is back at the Kuflink Stadium as Dennis Kutrieb’s latest new signing.
Darren McQueen, who scored 20 goals in his first season with the Fleet, will also rekindle his partnership with former Dartford teammate Elliott Romain which yielded 30 goals between the pair in 2019/20.
McQueen, a former Tottenham youth player alongside Shaq Coulthirst, was originally signed by the Fleet after a goal spree for Maldon & Tiptree. In all, the pacy McQueen scored 25 goals in 72 games in his first spell and was also capped by England C before moving on to Sutton United in November 2018 – during his third season with the Fleet – and from there to Dartford.
His exuberant and prolific performances for the Darts were rewarded with a move back into the National League with Dagenham & Redbridge where he scored twice against the Fleet in the FA Trophy in 2020.
He found the net against us once more in a successful season-long loan with Dulwich Hamlet last December where the home side’s attacking verve certainly caught the eye and he now returns to the Kuflink Stadium following his departure from Dagenham.
While more of an out-and-out striker in his first Fleet spell, the 27-year-old has been increasingly utilised from wide areas in more recent times and his undoubted instinct for goal will be a bonus as the club heads into the 2022/23 campaign.
“When I left the club, it wasn’t something I did easily with the memories I had and Ebbsfleet was always in my heart afterwards,” McQueen said in his first interview back [to follow]. “Winning the promotion final with the Fleet is still the highest point of my career and I want to help the club do that again.”
