Cousins played for Durham City when they met Southport in their inaugural Third Division North fixture in 1921 and became their top scorer of the season with 17 goals – the second highest total by any Durham player during their seven campaigns in the Northern Section. An energetic and sharp-shooting inside-forward, he became a fixture at inside-right from November 1923 on, having initially deputised at centre-forward for Fred Broadbent in the September. His outstanding goal at Rochdale is fully recounted elsewhere but it was after losing his League place midway through the following campaign that he netted 6 goals for the Reserves from inside-left when Wigan Borough Reserves were beaten 7–3 on 7 February 1925. His career petered out shortly afterwards but he lived on in the town and ran a credit drapery business for many years before moving down to Eastbourne four years before his bizarre death at 81. Though previously in fine physical shape (and having just contributed a piece to Southport’s last League programme), he fell out of bed and broke his neck, leaving himself completely paralysed. He died within a week or two, having totally lost the will to live.