Charlton Athletic FC
The Valley
Floyd Road
Charlton
London
SE7 8BL
Ground: 72
Date: Saturday 16th February 2019
Charlton Athletic 0-0 Blackpool
League 1
Attendance: 17,267 (official)
Charlton Athletic FC - 10 Facts
1) Charlton Athletic were founded in 1905, initially playing in youth leagues before becoming a senior side in 1913.
2) After World War 1, the club became professional in 1920 and joined the Football League a year later. In 1926, the club finished second-from-bottom and had to apply for re-election. After a few years of yo-yoing between Divisions 2 and 3, the club gained consecutive promotions from the 3rd Division to the 1st Division from 1934 to 1936.
3) In 1937, the club finished in their highest-ever position, finishing as runners-up in the 1st Division. With 4th and 3rd-place finishes in the final two seasons before World War 2, the club were the most consistent team in the top-flight in those three seasons.
4) In 1946, the club reached the FA Cup final but lost to Derby County. The following season, they reached the final again, this time beating Burnley 1-0. This saw the club average some of the highest crowds in the Football League, but despite this the club started to stagnate due to minimal investment and they were eventually relegated in 1957.
5) For the next fifteen or so years, the club remained in the 2nd Division before suffering relegation to the 3rd Division in 1972. The rest of the decade saw the club yo-yo between the 2nd and 3rd Divisions, before financial problems forced the club into administration in 1984. After reforming, the club had to leave The Valley as it was deemed unsafe after the Bradford City stadium fire (and the club did not have the funds to upgrade it). This forced the club into a groundshare at Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park.
6) Despite these issues, the club returned to the 1st Division for the 1986/87 season and remained in the top-flight for four seasons before suffering relegation in 1990. In the 1992/93 season, the club made a strong start in the newly-renamed Division 1 but were forced to sell key players to fund their return to The Valley in December 1992.
7) In the 1997/98 season, the club reached the Division 1 play-offs and beat Sunderland 7-6 on penalties to earn promotion to the Premier League. However, the club were relegated back to Division 1 after one season, only to bounce back immediately and win the Division 1 title in the 1999/2000 season to return to the Premier League.
8) The club remained in the Premier League until the 2006/07 season (recording a highest finish of 7th in the 2003/04 season) after long-term manager Alan Curbishley (manager in some capacity since 1991) departed. The 2006/07 season saw three managers attempt to keep the club up, but all three failed and the club were relegated to the Championship.
9) Upon returning to the Championship, the club failed to earn promotion in their first season and then recorded substantial financial losses. The 2008/09 season saw the club struggling at the wrong end of the league, embarking on a club-record 18 games without a win as they suffered relegation to League 1. In their first season at that level, the club finished in the play-offs but lost to Swindon Town in the semi-finals. The club then earned promotion back to the Championship in the 2011/12 season by winning the League 1 title.
10) In January 2014, Roland Duchâtelet took over as the club's new owner. Two months later, popular manager Chris Powell was sacked, with it emerging that the new owner was attempting to dictate the team and tactics; Powell was reportedly sacked for ignoring these instructions. The next couple of seasons were chaotic for the club - with struggles on the pitch and protests off of it - and relegation back to League 1 at the end of the 2015/16 season came as little surprise. The club have remained in League 1 ever since, finishing in the play-offs last season but losing to Shrewsbury Town in the semi-finals.
My Visit
About a month or so ago - while I was still at home from University on Christmas break - I was flicking through my Twitter feed when I noticed that Charlton were doing a "Football for a Fiver" day, offering admission to a League 1 game for just £5 for everyone. Naturally, I was interested, but I initially dismissed it after reading the date and thinking that it clashed with my planned trip to Didcot Town. However, after mentioning it to Matt on the way to Chesham United at the end of last month, I decided to look again and noticed that I had been mistaken on the date of the game.
As a result, I added the game to my groundhopping schedule, but didn't buy my ticket immediately as I had to wait for Matt and my friend Toby to confirm whether they would be able to join me at the game or not. As it turned out, they wouldn't be able to, so on Friday last week I ordered my ticket, with it arriving as I was about to head out for last week's groundhop. After that, it was then a matter of waiting until I got money again for the month on Friday, at which point I could finally order my train tickets.
When yesterday came, I had an early lunch at 11am before heading out just before midday to head to the train station. My train then left Guildford at around 12:15pm, getting into London Waterloo 45 minutes later. I then had difficulty in figuring out how to get to Waterloo East to catch my connection to Charlton (as there is very little signage within Waterloo station to indicate how to get there). Eventually, I figured it out and got across with five minutes to spare.
The train from Waterloo East reached Charlton station at around 1:50pm and from there I followed the crowd towards the ground. Before heading in through the turnstiles, I took a photo of the outside of the ground and bought a programme for £3. After going through the turnstiles, I stayed on the concourse for a while, buying a hot dog and watching the last 15 minutes of the League 1 game between Southend United and Portsmouth that happened to be on the TV.
After this finished (around 2:25pm), I headed into the stadium itself and eventually found my seat, taking a few photos of the ground as I waited for kick-off. Eventually, after a minute's applause for the late England goalkeeper and World Cup winner Gordon Banks, the game kicked off at around 3:05pm.
By all indications, this was looking likely to be a very tight game, with both teams firmly in the promotion race but neither in exceptional form as of late.
Here's an official match report from the Charlton website, as this match was so poor (easily the worst I've watched this season) that I couldn't be bothered to write a report for it (and even if I could have been, there would be pretty much nothing for me to write about):
In a game of few chances, the Addicks’ best opportunity fell the way of Joe Aribo late on but his close-range shot was brilliantly blocked by a Pool defender.
The result leaves the Addicks in the top six but in need of a win and they now face back-to-back away matches against AFC Wimbledon and Doncaster Rovers.
The big team news saw Lyle Taylor return from suspension as Lee Bowyer made five changes to his starting XI.
Along with Taylor, Patrick Bauer, Josh Parker, Anfernee Dijksteel and Aribo all earned starts but it was Blackpool who started the brighter.
They forced the first shot on goal with eight minutes on the clock when Nya Kirby volleyed over the crossbar from the corner of the penalty area.
The Addicks came close themselves on the quarter-hour mark, with Jonny Williams forcing a couple of corners in quick succession but Pool were able to get both flag-kicks clear.
On 22 minutes, Charlton could have taken the lead. Aribo – back in the side following a knee injury – dug out a great low cross on the left flank but Parker just could not connect with it in the middle.
A dipping drive from Williams stung the palms of Pool goalkeeper Mark Howards three minutes later and, at the other end, Addicks stopper Dillon Phillips did well to get his body in the way of a powerful Armand Gnanduillet shot.
Williams was denied by another smart save from Howard with 33 minutes gone – again from a low Aribo cross – and on the stroke of half-time Ben Reeves fired a 20-yard free-kick over the bar from a central position.
The two sides went in goalless at the break and, before the second half kicked off, Bowyer introduced Mark Marshall in place of Reeves. Charlton came close two minutes after the restart when Parker – now operating from the left – cut inside and saw a shot bravely blocked by a Pool defender.
Substitute Marshall found the overlapping Williams on 55 minutes and his dangerous centre was scrambled clear by the Blackpool back-line. Six minutes later, a Dijksteel centre was just too high for the head of Ben Purrington.
The Addicks looked the more likely to break the deadlock and 15 minutes from time Parker was foiled by another brave Blackpool block, having cut in from the left.
At the other end, Gnanduillet bobbled a strike over the bar before the Addicks’ Aribo had a strike brilliantly blocked behind by Harry Pritchard, having wriggled his way into the box.
Josh Cullen shot off target a couple of minutes later and that proved to be the final chance on what was a frustrating afternoon for the Addicks.
So, as I said before, 90 minutes of complete and utter dross. Had I paid more than £5 for this match, I might have been really pissed off, but because of the price I'm a bit more relaxed about the whole thing. Still, Cobham last week also cost me just £5 admission, and I know which I feel was better value for money. Also, as a curious coincidence, on this weekend last year I also saw a goalless draw when I visited Abbey Rangers, so clearly there's some sort of jinx on me and the third weekend of February when it comes to football.
Up next, as long as the weather holds out during the coming week, I'm planning to visit Clapton to take advantage of their free admission offer for their home game against Barkingside, while the following weekend will likely see me stay somewhere local, depending on the options that are available.
On the journey back, I waited at the train station for 20 minutes rather than getting on the first train back to Waterloo, as I didn't want to get on a ridiculously crammed train. Eventually, I got on a train at around 5:35pm, getting into Waterloo just after 6pm. I then had to wait until 6:30pm to get a train back to Guildford, getting back into the house at around 7:25pm after all was said and done.
The Ground
The Valley is an impressive League 1 ground, as is perhaps unsurprising given the long periods the club have spent in the top tier. The ground is an all-seater with a capacity of 27,111. This is approximately split as follows: the Jimmy Seed Stand (used by away supporters) has a capacity of 3,000; the East Stand (where I was sat) has a capacity of 6,000; the West Stand and the Covered End each have a capacity of 9,000.
The all-time record attendance at the ground is 75,031 for an FA Cup game against Aston Villa in 1938, while the ground has sold out on numerous occasions since becoming an all-seater stadium (six times in the Premier League from September 2005 to April 2007).
Photos
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