The Valley

If you want to visit the Valley, I’ll have a word with my gf and we’ll see what she can do. It’s a pretty spectacular Valley I have to say, and can accommodate thousands.
27,000 to be exact, actually. Once upon a time, 75k could squeeze in here and it was Europe’s biggest league stadium, but Charlton underachieved so it fell into disrepair.
Charlton even had to share Selhurst Park for ages while the Valley was renovated. Luckily three sides of it are complete now and it’s an absolutely magnificent venue in the heart of SE London. It just needs one more stand to be «done up» and then it’ll be finished, and one of the best grounds in London and the country. But it’s already pretty fantastic.
First-​Hand Experience: Unilocal asked me to include more information about my personal experience at this stadium, so here it is. I’ve been to the Valley twice (I think), once on my 2014 stadium tour of England (and I took pix), and once to watch a game when I was younger (Oxford United away). Lovely stadium indeed.
I’ve been to virtually every significant stadium in the UK & US, due to a lifelong obsession with travel, sport & especially footy (soccer to Americans). Born and raised in England, I followed Oxford United (my hometown team) to many stadiums all over the country at away games, and later followed Liverpool (my fave team) around. Every stadium review — like all my reviews — are from personal experience at these stadiums from multiple visits. In 2011, I was on music tour in the UK, and visited these stadiums then, also. As recently as Fall 2014, when I was «stuck» in the UK for 3 months, I visited all of the stadiums as I travelled around the country. I have pictures of many of them which I will post in future. Also, when I’m back in the UK I plan to take more pictures, and add more stadiums too! So watch this space!
*** return to regular review ***
There is a very romantic story about how the stadium was built:
The club found an abandoned sand and chalk pit in Charlton, but did not have sufficient funds to fully develop the site. An army of volunteer Charlton supporters dug out a massive pit for the pitch, and used the soil from the excavation to build up the sides. The ground’s name most likely comes from its original valley-​like appearance. The club played its first game at the ground before any seats, or even terraces, were installed; there was simply a roped-​off pitch with the crowd standing or sitting on the adjoining earthworks. The unique circumstances of the ground’s initial construction led to an unusually intense bond between the club’s supporters and the site that exists to this day.
How romantic is that?

Another good family club to take your child to, to watch a game

The Valley ist eines meiner Lieblingsstadien. Knapp 30.000 Zuschauer finden hier Platz.
Die Tribünen unterscheiden sich alle voneinander, aber dennoch hat man das Gefühl als würde das alles ganz genau zusammen passen. Man sitzt hier sehr nah am Spielfeld, wie es für britische Fußballstadien üblich ist. Ein Besuch lohnt sich auf jeden Fall.

Seem to always get a good result here, so another reason i like the ground!
There are a few pubs around the area which welcome away fans so can pretty much guarantee a drink outside the ground if not inside.
The train station is pretty close too so another option instead of driving or coaching it.
The stewards are really friendly and helpful. You most likely will be serched upon entry to the ground.

Being a Sheffield United fan, we recently always seem to have an enjoyable visit to The Valley and my latest is no exception.
In the past we’ve travelled by car and parked on a nearby residential road. Be careful if you do the same, as some areas need permits or are restricted at certain times.
This time around, we arrived at Charlton by train, the station being a couple of minutes walk away from The Valley.
We paid £3.50 for a return from London Bridge.
In terms of pre-​match drinking, there are a few away friendly pubs within a few minutes walk from the stadium. The ones we’ve frequented in the past are the Rose Of Denmark and the Antigallican.
The Rose Of Denmark is definately our prefered choice and tends to be popular, but less busy due to being a slightly further walk. It can be found on Woolwich Road, just past the petrol station (walk down past Charlton station and turn left). This place makes a point of welcoming home and away fans alike and has always been a relaxed atmosphere. If you are wearing colours though, expect to be collared for a photo with the Charlton mad regulars.
The Antigallican is more popular amongst away fans due to its location (100 yards from the station) but gets very busy and police often stop people drinking outside the pub.
The ground itself is one of my prefered venues in the Championship, it’s been redeveloped and improved in recent years, but has maintained a traditional feel to it.
There is normally a good atmosphere and our matches have always been trouble free. Stewards normally have a more laid back approach than a number of places, but expect to be searched on the way in (as is normal most places anyway).
If your team is allocated the full away stand, there are refreshment and toilet facilities located on either side of the stand. If you take a large following however, expect very large queues for these. The refreshment areas serve the usual selection of pies, hot drinks, hot dogs etc
A good one to visit if you like traditional football grounds and is one of the more enjoyable London trips.