London Bees - The Bees Stadium

London Bees WFC

The Bees Stadium

The Hive

Camrose Avenue

London 

HA8 6AG

Official Website

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Ground Number: 1368
Sunday 27th October 2024
London Bees 3-3 Norwich City
FAWNL D1 South East

LONDON BEES FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1975 and was initially known as District Line FC after their workplace. They first entered the Hounslow & District League, before playing in various London leagues. In the early 1990s. they were admitted into the Women’s FA National League Southern Division. They joined forces with Wembley FC, changing their name to Wembley Ladies. By 1997, they had reached the Women's FA Cup Final, losing 1-0 to Millwall Lionesses in front of over 3,000 at West Ham United. They then spent a season playing at Hanwell Town before becoming Barnet FC Ladies in 1998. In 2010, they were an unsuccessful applicant for the Women's Super League.

In 2014 they changed their name to London Bees. Two years later they became the first WSL 2 club to reach the semi-finals of the FA WSL Cup, after notable wins against Chelsea and Sheffield. They were later defeated by Birmingham City. In 2018 the second tier of women’s football was rebranded as the FA Women’s Championship. The Bees finished 8th in the 2018/19 campaign and followed that up with a 5th-place finish the next season before being relegated in 2021. After three difficult National League Southern Premier Division seasons, London Bees suffered a second relegation in four seasons. They currently play in the FA Women's National League Division One South East, the 4th level of women's Football.

MY VISIT

Since my last new blog, there has been one big piece of football news: the appointment of a new England manager. I'm not the biggest follower of international football, often seeing it as more of an annoyance that gets in the way of normal football. I only get into it when nothing else is on, such as tournament time. Gareth Southgate did a great job, not always pretty on the eye but he got consistent results and the standard has not become a final or semi-final rather than the quarters if we are lucky. But that was not good enough for some entitled fans who think we are God's gift, despite not winning anything in  58 years. I'd have been begging Southgate to stay, but the FA in their infinite wisdom accepted his resignation without much of a fight to go with the general narrative of the football world. Just as a stopped clock is right once a day though, they finally came good with the appointment of Thomas Tuchel (or Tommy Tickle as I like to call him thanks to author Ian King) getting the best possible man for the job. I think only Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola would have been better suited and there was not a chance that they would consider the job.

But that was not good enough for our xenophobic media, or at least some of it. No doubt harking back to a war that ended nearly eight years ago, they were incandescent with rage that we had appointed a GERMAN and had a fit of pique that made Oz from Auf Weidersehen Pet look decidedly woke. Insisting on an Englishman taking charge of the side, despite just days previous advocating Pep Guardiola for the role, they failed to say who they wanted instead. Maybe Graham Potter who seems like a younger Roy Hodgson has seen great success in Sweden but failed miserably at Chelsea. Or Eddie Howe, a decent guy, but one who has seen little international experience, just like Graham Taylor who flopped under intense pressure from the press. All in all, it's not hard to see why the Scots and Welsh take against England, especially when the very same press mocks their sterling efforts for smaller nations. All in all, it's like a rather embarrassing bloke down the pub that spouts utter nonsense.

I finalised plans for this visit on Thursday before the game, researching the club history from what I could find. I also planned parking in a side street as not I was not able to find out what parking costs within the stadium itself. Friday saw a disappointing lack of choice for a Friday night game, so it was an early night. Saturday was a great day as I enjoyed a nice day out watching Wycombe easily beat a feeble Leyton Orient side 3-0. A few drinks were enjoyed but I was home at a reasonable hour and appreciated the extra hour in bed, less so the darker evenings. It was as expected, busy as anything on Sunday with the traditional family day out at the supermarket being as popular as it ever was. I was glad when I was offered an early finish as time would have been tight otherwise. I was glad I left early. Firstly the traffic and roads were terrible once we got into London and also the footpath I'd been expecting didn't exist. Instead, it was a ten-minute walk to get to a destination a few hundred yards away. There was also no time to get food with everything being so far away. Luckily, the cafe at the ground did the job, a cheese and ham toastie was £3.10. It was a fiver to get in, reasonable for the third tier.

 

London Bees sat in 5th place, having won three, drawn three and lost two of their eight games so far. Two weeks ago, they won 6-0 at Steyning Town in the Women's FA Cup. Norwich City finished as runners-up last year and they were looking good to go one better this season. They sat top of the table having won four and drawn three of their seven games so far. Last week, they beat second-place Actonians 2-0 although that was in the FAWNL Plate 4th Round. The game was late starting, it was 14:08 before it kicked off. It was even early on but Norwich took the lead on ten minutes, a cross from the left and close-range header by Shannon Shaw. On 16 minutes, it was all square, a deep cross and another header from around six yards out by Sam Lanza. Just before halftime, London Bees took the lead, a corner from the left was flicked on and it was another header from Lanza to make it 2-1. It was the least they deserved after dominating the first half. The second half kicked off at 15:16. On 48 minutes, it was all square, identical to the opener, another Shaw header. Despite a great save by the Bees keeper, she couldn't hold onto the ball and so Shaw completed her hat trick on 67 minutes, poking home after a goal-mouth scramble. Just as the game was entering its final stages and Norwich looked home and dry, London Bees equalised, Hailey Hoare with great control and a finish from the edge of the area.

 

The hosts even had a couple of chances to win what had been an excellent game with some physical challenges at times. It was still a ten-minute walk back to the car, but I left in a good mood and glad that I had chosen to come to the game. Though the journey home was not the quickest, it was a far more pleasant route without constant width restrictions, speed bumps and other traffic-calming measures. I listened to the Arsenal v Liverpool game and got in at 5.15. I had a busy evening with this blog, and I will eventually add some of the women's football leagues to my blog. I also had to pack up my old laptop to send after I'd sold it on eBay. Next up for me, fingers crossed, will be Holmer Green v Brook House on Tuesday, provided the hosts have solved the floodlight issues that prevented me from visiting my local side last Tuesday.

 

THE GROUND

THE BEES STADIUM is a fairly basic 3G cage although it does have a decent amount of metal terracing. There is no cover or seating officially, though you can sit down on the terrace. Overall, it's a decent facility, albeit one that is a bit bland. One notable aspect is that players take an unusual route to the pitch, walking away from the stadium and then back in again. Public transport is plentiful or it's street parking or £3 for up to four hours or £8 if it's classed as an 'event' or 'matchday'. Snacks, drinks and sandwiches are available from an adjacent cafe, as is booze.