London Bees is an English

women's football Women's football most often refers to: * Women's association football Women's football may also refer to: * Women's gridiron football * Women's Australian rules football * Ladies' Gaelic football * Women's rugby league * Women's rugby union ...

club affiliated with

Barnet F.C. Barnet Football Club () is a professional association football club based in London Borough of Harrow, North West London. The team currently competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. The club was foun ...

They play in the

FA Women's National League The FA Women's National League is a group of six football divisions which sit at the third and fourth tiers of women's football in England. Founded in 1991 as the WFA National League, the league was run by the Women's Football Association, before ...

Division One South East, the fourth tier of the English women's football pyramid. The club has been in existence under several names since 1975, originally being called District Line Ladies F.C. The team were re-branded as London Bees after joining the new WSL 2 for the 2014 season. The club have a first team and a youth academy; both train and play at

the Hive Stadium The Hive London is a football centre near Edgware, London, offering football pitches for hire, conference and banqueting facilities, an on-site gym, cafe, bar and more. It was built on the former site of the municipal Prince Edward Playing Fiel ...

History

The club began in 1975 as District Line Ladies FC, then merged with Wembley FC in 1993 to become Wembley Ladies FC. In 1996 Wembley won the League Cup by defeating

Doncaster Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an England, English women's association football, women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's admi ...

. In 1997 Wembley reached the FA Women's Cup final after defeating

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the semi-final. However they were unable to beat

Millwall Lionesses Millwall Lionesses Football Club is an English women's football club based in Rotherhithe, south-east London, that plays in the , the fifth tier of English women's football. Founded in 1973, the group of women who made up the Lionesses were at ...

and lost 1-0 at the

Boleyn Ground Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium in Upton Park, London, Upton Park, east London, England. It was the home of West Ham United F.C., West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic ...

. In 1997 the club moved to play at Hanwell Town FC but kept the Wembley Ladies name. In 1998, the club became affiliated with

Barnet FC Barnet Football Club () is a professional association football club based in London Borough of Harrow, North West London. The team currently competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. The club was foun ...

, amalgamating with the existing Barnet Ladies FC from the Greater London League to form Barnet FC Ladies. In March 2010 Barnet F.C. Ladies were announced as an unsuccessful bidder for the

FA Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

. In 2013, they were successful in their bid to join the WSL under their new name of London Bees for the 2014 season. In the 2016 FA WSL summer season, London Bees became the first WSL 2 club to reach the semi-finals of the

FA WSL Cup The Women's League Cup, also known as the Subway Women's League Cup due to sponsorship reasons, is a league cup competition in English women's association football. The competition was originally open to the eight teams in the FA WSL, but since t ...

, after notable wins against Chelsea Ladies on penalties and Sheffield Ladies in their quarter-final fixture. They were later defeated in the semi-final by Birmingham City Ladies. In the 2020–21 season, London Bees finished bottom of the Championship and were relegated to the third tier of English women's football. In the 2024-2025 season, London Bees finished fourth in the FA Women's National League Division One South East, the fourth tier of English women's football.

Current squad

Current technical staff

Notable former players

''Players who played for District Line Ladies, Wembley Ladies, Barnet FC Ladies or London Bees and received recognition at full international level'' * Evdokia Popadinova *

Natasha Dowie Natasha Khalila Dowie (born 30 June 1988) is an English former Association football, footballer. She represented the England women's national football team at the youth level before making her senior international debut in 2009. Dowie played fo ...

* Carol Harwood * Lesley Higgs * Kim Jerray-Silver * Justine Lorton * Kristy Moore * Danielle Murphy * Sarah Reed *

Kelly Smith Kelly Jayne Smith (born 29 October 1978) is an English former football forward who spent three spells with FA WSL club Arsenal. After moving to the United States, Smith broke records with Seton Hall University then played professionally with ...

* Emma Beckett * Jemma Connor-Iommi * Jan Mooney * Ayala Liran * Naz Ball *

Eleri Earnshaw Eleri Earnshaw (born 17 May 1985) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the assistant coach for Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She was previously the acting head coach and assistant coach of the Fordham ...

* Sydney Hinchcliffe * Danielle Oates * Sally Wade * Laura-May Walkley * Ruesha Littlejohn *

Rachel Unitt Rachel Elizabeth Unitt (born 5 June 1982) is a former English footballer who last played for FA Women's Championship club London Bees. After beginning her club career with Wolves, Unitt began a long association with Everton in 2000. This was ...

Charlie Estcourt Charlotte Lucy Estcourt (born 27 May 1998) is a footballer who plays as a midfielder in the USL Super League for DC Power and the Wales national team. Early life Born in Reading, Berkshire, Estcourt attended the John Madejski Academy, where s ...

* Helen Ward

Former managers

Honours

FA Women's Premier League Southern Division The FA Women's National League South is a league in the third level in the women's football pyramid in England, along with the Northern division. These two divisions are part of the FA Women's National League and below the Women's Super Le ...

: ** Winners (2): 1992–93 (as District Line), 2009–10 (as Barnet F.C. Ladies) *

FA Women's Premier League Cup The FA Women's National League Cup is an annual England, English women's association football, football cup competition, founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association, Women's Football Association (WFA). The 1991–92 WFA Women's National L ...

: ** Winners (2): 1995–96 (as Wembley Ladies) ,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

: ** Semi-Finalist: 2016, Continental Cup

Player honours

* FA WSL 2 Golden Boot Award ** Winner: Jo Wilson with 10 League goals in 2016 * FA WSL 2 Player of the Month (April 2017/18) ** Winner: Katie Wilkinson * FA Championship Player of the Month (January 2019/20) ** Winner: Sarah Quantrill

Manager honours

* LMA Women's Championship Manager of the Month (September 2019/20) ** Winner: Lee Burch * LMA Women's Championship Manager of the Month (January 2019/20) ** Winner: Lee Burch

References

External links

Official site
{{FA Women's Super League Women's football clubs in England

Ladies ''Lady'' is a term for a woman who behaves in a polite way. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the female counterpart of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. "Lady" is al ...

Women's football clubs in London 1975 establishments in England Women's Super League 2 teams FA Women's National League teams