Brentford Under-18s head coach Lydia Bedford labelled the 2023/24 campaign as a "rollercoaster", with the club welcoming new management and a fresh group of young players through the Robert Rowan Performance Centre doors.

Competing in the South East Youth Alliance League, the Youth Alliance Cup and the FA Youth Cup, the U18 side were founded at the start of the 2022/23 season after the Bees were granted Category Four Academy status.

In the summer of 2023, Bedford took charge of the side ahead of the upcoming season, assisted by Jon-Paul Pittman.

And the young Bees boss gives insight into her first season at the club and speaks on the challenge of taking on a whole new squad.

She said: “It’s definitely been a rollercoaster, from coming through the doors on day one and having to welcome 16 new players and their parents, to finishing the season on a real high.

“There were lots of highs and lows along the way, but plenty of really rewarding moments and we have stuck to our processes which came into fruition over time.”

Ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, 12 new players agreed to join the club, which accumulated to 18 players by the end of the season.

Many of the group are on scholarships and train full-time at the Robert Rowan Performance Centre. As well as taking part in their full-time training and match schedule, the young players are in educational programmes which are delivered on-site.

Bedford discussed the key messages she wanted to get across to her side as pre-season training got underway.

She continued: “Early on, it was about getting the boys together, to get them to understand what it means to play for Brentford Football Club and to move seamlessly into the training ground as a new team.

“The lads had all joined from different areas and I think it was about them understanding that it’s a big step in their journey and really starting to build the principles of how the Club wanted to play.”

As part of the side’s pre-season schedule, they headed to the East Midlands for some military training designed to develop teamwork as well as mental and physical resilience.

Bedford, her staff and the playing squad all headed to Kendrew Barracks for an overnight stay, which included two days of tough challenges.

“I’m not sure they were very grateful for it! But it was my idea and something I had previously done when I was in charge at Leicester City Women,” said Bedford.

“I saw the benefit from it with the ladies - in fact, they probably embraced it more than the boys - but I saw real growth in them. It was the perfect way for the lads to get to know each other and a real opportunity for everyone to come together.”

It took the young Bees six games to register their first league win in what was a difficult start to the season in terms of results for Bedford’s side.

A positive performance against Belgium side Lommel and a 3-0 win over MK Dons in September saw Brentford make progress.

Speaking on the U18s' early results, Bedford said: “What was pleasing in the first few games was that they were very tight; there were lots of key learnings from each of the games that we knew we could take on.

“We knew that the boys were there, but it was just about keeping them on track with the principles. It was pleasing that, against the bigger teams, the lads seemed to raise their standards, which showed the potential within the group.”

Brentford saw their biggest challenge of the season come when the side drew Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Youth Cup third round back in November.

The match offered the opportunity for the young Bees to play in front of a large crowd for the first time at Brentford’s new academy home ground, Wheatsheaf Park.

Despite losing the game 5-1, Bedford says she learnt a lot from her side following that game and was proud of the team’s efforts.

“When you play the teams that are ranked higher than us, you want to put in a performance that you can be proud of,” she explained.

“In football, you can’t always control the result and, in that game, you saw that the lads jelled well and there were spells where we caused them problems. To come out in the second half and pull one back early on to make it 2-1 was great.

“The boys had to show some real grit when we went down to 10 men, which was a learning point for them.”

Following the conclusion of the South East Youth Alliance League season, Brentford embarked on an eight-game EFL Youth Alliance Merit League 2 campaign.

The Bees made Wheatsheaf Park a fortress, winning all four of their home games as the side went on to finish Merit League 2 as champions, after an impressive run of seven wins from eight games.

“Our home form versus our away form has been completely different at times this year - we played some great stuff at Wheatsheaf Park, which ultimately led us to win the Merit League 2 and end the season on a high,” said Bedford.

“The players have really risen to the atmosphere when they perform at Wheatsheaf Park; the challenge for them now is to be consistent and take that into next season's away matches.”