Welcome, Joe Rye!

Boreham Wood Football Club can announce the addition of promising, hard-working centre-half, Joe Rye. The 21-year-old arrives at Meadow Park from Barnet on loan until the end of the 2024/25 campaign and will wear the number 23 shirt for Luke Garrard’s side.

Rye’s footballing journey kicked off at the age of six when he joined Portsmouth and, after a 10-year-stay stay in the Pompey youth setup, he joined fellow National League South side, Worthing. The centre-half’s breakout season came in the 2022/23 campaign, in which he played a key role in helping the West Sussex side reach the play-off semi-final. However, last season, Joe would go one better with the Rebels and reached the play-off final, his side losing narrowly to Braintree Town in a seven-goal-thriller.

In May of last year, the young defender joined Barnet and following limited game time under Dean Brennan, embarked on a loan move to Chelmsford City in January, continuing his development. Before being recalled to the Hive and joining the Wood today, the 21-year-old gained more crucial National League South experience, featuring 13 times for the Clarets, including a full 90 against Luke Garrard’s men at the back end of last month.

Luke Garrard commented on our new loanee, saying: “Joe is someone we identified as a target, especially after the year he’s had with success at Worthing and a move to Barnet. For us, it’s a matter of him coming in, settling into the group as soon as possible and making an impact in these crucial latter stages of the season.”