MARLON FOSSEY says his first-team debut for Fulham FC was made ‘sweeter’ by the fact that he was forced to overcome adversity to achieve it.
The former Island junior, who left Jersey at the age of 11 to join Fulham’s academy, played 90 minutes for the Premier League club on Tuesday night, when they met Crawley Town in the second round of the Carabao Cup. His appearance for Marco Silva’s side followed two spells out on loan in recent seasons, and a lengthy list of serious injuries.
The USA age-group international had been tipped to break into the west-London club’s first team in 2018/19, having featured in the Cottagers’ pre-season campaign following their promotion to the top flight. However, a knee injury would rule him out for the season and he struggled for fitness for the best part of two years.
A planned season-long stint at League One side Shrewsbury Town lasted just three months in 2020 due to another injury, and he also returned to Fulham early after signing for Bolton Wanderers on loan in January 2022. He made 22 appearances in the third tier across the two deals, scoring one goal for Bolton.
‘I wouldn’t say that pride in the accomplishment hit me on the night and it was a shame that the performance of myself and the team wasn’t up to scratch,’ said the 23-year-old, following Fulham’s shock 2-0 defeat to League Two strugglers Crawley. ‘But, the following day, it did really hit me how grateful I was to have hit this goal that I’d been working towards for as long as I’ve been at the club – to make my competitive debut.
‘The path I’ve embarked on to get to this milestone has required a lot of persistence and that just makes it all the more sweeter and rewarding to have achieved this feat.’
Fossey, who has made 50 appearances in Premier League 2 – the development league for U23 sides – has turned down a new contract at Fulham in a bid for regular first-team football.
