BARNET FC & LONDON BEES LAUNCH NEW ACADEMY

Barnet FC and London Bees are pleased to announce the introduction of ‘The Bees Academy’ to help promote further football development and pathways for young players to the Barnet FC and London Bees first teams.

Led by Dillon Barnes (founder of DC Academy) and supported by Barnet FC first-team assistant manager, Connor Smith, this will extend the Club’s recruitment reach and help start the process to rebuild our youth structure.

The new structure will see The Bees rebrand and assimilate DC Academy’s existing five centres around London with the aim of establishing future centres, and with the top players from each centre forming an elite team based at The Hive. The Bees Academy will also continue to draw upon our existing youth provision with Canons High School, which has seen the likes of Jack Blower and Patrick Matejko sign professional contracts with Barnet FC this summer.

Speaking on the new structure, Dillon Barnes said: “Our mission is to identify, recruit, and nurture talented players, providing them with the opportunity to progress through the ranks and potentially represent Barnet FC and London Bees at various competitive levels.

“This initiative is designed to create a sustainable pathway for aspiring footballers to pursue their dreams of a professional career in football.”

Barnet FC Assistant Manager Connor Smith added, “It’s an exciting project for the club; it improves our outreach of young talent across London and will hopefully allow us to produce young players for our first team. Something Barnet FC have an excellent history of doing.”

Barnet FC and London Bees CEO Natasha Kleanthous said: “We have seen fantastic talent being developed at the Clubs and have proven success in nurturing players up the football pyramids; sadly, over the years, this has been impacted by relegation and the pandemic.

“A key priority ahead of next season has been the reintroduction of a full player pathway and the reinforcement of our current youth development structure.

“The Bees Academy will expand our reach and ensure stronger foundations for our young players, as well as furthering their opportunities within professional sport.

“It’s been a pleasure getting to know Dillon and the great work that he and his team have carried out to date, and I am delighted to welcome them to the Clubs as a part of the new set-up.”