Chelsea's third loan move of the 2016-17 season has been confirmed. The club announced today that 20-year-old goalkeeper Mitchell Beeney will be joining League Two side Crawley Town on loan until January 3. Crawley are managed by former Arsenal and Chelsea youth coach Dermot Drummy, who was in charge of our U16, U18, and U21 teams (in succession, not at the same time) from 2007 to 2014.
Son of Chelsea youth goalkeeping coach Mark Beeney, Mitchell joined the Chelsea Academy as a pre-teen in 2007. He made his first apperances for the U18 team in the 2010-11 season, becoming a regular for the next two seasons. The England U20 international made the step up to the U21 team in the 2013-14 season (led at the time by Drummy), and established himself as first choice keeper in the season after that.
Last season, Beeney wasn't able to feature regularly in the U21's due to injuries and competition with other keepers, and went on a one-month loan to League Two's Newport County on January 15. His loan deal was extended for two more months on February 18 but was cut short only seven days later for reasons undisclosed by Newport.
Both Beeney and his young family are excited by the move.
Delighted to be joining @crawleytown on loan, cant wait to start now ⚽️
— mitchell beeney (@mitch_beeney1) June 23, 2016
Yayyyy!! Good Loan. And means we won't be moving. #footballerfamily https://t.co/xtof3nPEQg
— harrietbarker. (@haaattiix3) June 23, 2016
Good luck, Beeney!