Barnet FC have today confirmed that 22-year-old centre-back Dominic Revan will be joining National League North outfit Banbury United on a one-month loan.
The move comes after Revan failed to play a single minute of Barnet’s first four league encounters and will be hoping to build up his match sharpness in the next four weeks before returning to North London and challenging for a place in Dean Brennan’s side.
Revan came through the youth ranks at Aston Villa and made one very memorable appearance for the first team. He captained a youthful Villa side against Liverpool in the FA Cup during the 2020/21 season due to a Covid outbreak in the first team which meant the entire squad had to self-isolate. Revan performed admirably as he had a 100% tackle success rate, made 14 clearances and three interceptions whilst also winning two aerial duels.
This game highlighted Revan’s underlying potential but he has since struggled to progress his career. He went out on loan to National League South side Weymouth at the end of the 20/21 season where he played every minute of the 15 games he was available for before his loan was cut short due to him breaking his jaw. A loan to Northampton followed next season but he was only able to make six appearances for the club during his six-month stint, largely due to injuries.
Revan was released by Aston Villa in June 2022 and he joined the Bees in September but a lack of fitness meant that his first start didn’t come until mid-October against Weston-Super-Mare in the FA Cup. Revan was superb at left-back on his full debut as he looked aggressive yet assured in the tackle and he also managed to grab a goal. However, injuries once against restricted Revan as he only made 12 league appearances, accumulating just 576 minutes. By the time he was fit and available again towards the end of the season, Revan didn’t look the same player and he struggled to regain his place in the side.
Writer’s View
I think it’s fair to say that this loan spell is by far the most important of Revan’s career so far. His career at Barnet, and potentially even in full-time football, is at a crossroads and another injury at Banbury could lead to Dean Brennan completely losing faith in the young defender.
Although Revan has been used as a left-back before by Dean Brennan, he is predominantly right-footed and this makes it even harder for him to get back into the team. Danny Collinge and Adebola Oluwo, two right footed centre backs, have been Barnet’s two best players this season, thus rendering them undroppable for now, and, in my opinion, I think having a left-footed player on the left-hand side of the back three is a must.
Hopefully, the move can be seen as the start of a reset of Revan’s Barnet career and he can put in good performances at The Hive when he will undoubtedly be called upon later in the season.