London Bees · History

The club that became London Bees was founded in 1975 as District Line Ladies. Its founders were women working on the London Underground's District Line, and the team started out in the Hounslow and District League. It has since played as Wembley Ladies, Barnet FC Ladies and London Bees. It has been linked to Barnet FC since 1998 and has competed at every level from the Greater London League to the second tier of English women's football. Former players include the internationals Kelly Smith, Natasha Dowie and Helen Ward.

From the District Line to Wembley

District Line won the Greater London League Premier Division in 1991–92 and were promoted to the Women's National League Division One South. They won that division at the first attempt in 1992–93 and went up to the Premier Division. In the 1993 close season the club partnered with Wembley FC and became Wembley Ladies. They finished fourth in the FA Women's Premier League National Division in 1993–94 and fifth in each of the next two seasons.

Cup finals in the 1990s

In 1995–96 Wembley Ladies won the FA Women's Premier League Cup, beating Doncaster Belles on penalties in a final played at Barnet's ground. A year later they knocked Arsenal out in the semi-finals to reach the FA Women's Cup final, which they lost 1–0 to Millwall Lionesses at West Ham United's Boleyn Ground. The partnership with Wembley FC ended in 1997. The team moved to Hanwell Town and kept the Wembley name for one more season, which ended in relegation to the Southern Division.

Barnet FC Ladies

In 1998 the club affiliated with Barnet FC and merged with Barnet Ladies of the Greater London League. The new club, Barnet FC Ladies, played its home games at Underhill. In 2000–01 they finished third in the Southern Division, reached the quarter-finals of both the FA Women's Cup and the Premier League Cup, and won the Middlesex County Cup against Fulham. Relegation to the South East Combination League at the end of 2003–04 ended a decade in the Premier League. Tracey Kevins was appointed manager in February 2004. In 2005–06 Barnet won the South East Combination title and its League Cup, retained the Middlesex County Women's Senior Cup and reached the fifth round of the FA Women's Cup.

Southern Division champions and the WSL bid

After finishing fourth, third and second in the Southern Division, Barnet won it in 2009–10 and were promoted to the National Division. The same season they reached the FA Women's Cup semi-finals. They had beaten Nottingham Forest 3–2 in the quarter-finals, then lost to Everton at Southport. In March 2010 their application to join the new FA Women's Super League was turned down. In March 2011 they won the Premier League Cup for a second time: the final against Nottingham Forest at Adams Park in Wycombe finished goalless, and Barnet won 4–3 on penalties.

London Bees in WSL 2

A second bid succeeded in 2013, and the club entered WSL 2 for the 2014 season under the name London Bees. Julian Broomes was the first manager in the new league, from August 2014 to October 2015, and Dave Edmondson took over in February 2016. That year the Bees became the first WSL 2 side to reach the FA WSL Cup semi-finals. They had beaten Chelsea Ladies on penalties and Sheffield Ladies in the quarter-finals, then lost to Birmingham City in the semi-final. Jo Wilson won the 2016 WSL 2 Golden Boot with ten league goals. Luke Swindlehurst (July 2017 to February 2019), Rachel Yankey (February to May 2019) and Lee Burch (May 2019 to February 2021) were the managers who followed, by which time the second tier had become the Women's Championship.

Relegation and the National League

London Bees finished bottom of the Championship in 2020–21 and dropped to the third tier, the FA Women's National League. In 2023–24 they finished last in the Southern Premier Division with three points from 22 matches and were relegated to Division One South East. In 2024–25 they finished fourth of twelve in that division.