The Valley - Charlton Athletic

Charlton Athletic - The Valley

Charlton Athletic Football Club

The Valley

Floyd Road

Charlton
London

SE7 8BL

Charlton Athletic Facebook Page

Charlton Athletic Twitter Page

Charlton Athletic Official Website

HISTORY/FACTS ABOUT THE ADDICKS:

• Charlton Athletic Football Club were formed in 1905. They were formed by a group of 15-17 year olds in East Street of Charlton which is now known as Eastmoor Street and no longer residential.
• Before the 1st World War, Charlton mainly spent playing in the Youth Leagues. They then became a senior side in 1913.
• Charlton Athletic are known as The Addicks. It isn't 100% sure as why they are known as The Addicks, but it is a rumour that they are known as The Addicks because as they are from South London, it's a slang for Haddock Fish which is why they are known The Addicks. Whether that is 100% true or not, I'm not so sure.
• Charlton have been playing at The Valley since 1919. Although they have been playing there since, they left The Valley in 1985, groundsharing with London rivals Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. They moved back to The Valley in 1992.
• Charlton's 1st League title win came in 1929. They won the 3rd Division South title on 54 points from 42 games, beating rivals Crystal Palace to the title on goal difference.
• Charlton have only won the FA Cup once in 1947. They beat Burnley at Wembley 1-0, the winner coming in extra time from Chris Duffy. The year before they had reached the FA Cup Final for the 1st ever time but lost 4-1 to Derby County at Wembley.
• Charlton Athletic were promoted to The Premier League after an absence of 8 years from top flight football in 1998 after beating Sunderland on penalties at Wembley. The game finished 4-4 after extra time, with Charlton winning 7-6 on pens.
• Charlton finished their highest ever position for about 50 years in the Premier League by finishing 7th in 2004. They were only 3 points from finishing in 5th, a place in Europe.
• Charlton have rivalries with London rivals Crystal Palace and Millwall.

MY VISITS:

VISIT 1: Charlton Athletic 2-2 Gillingham 20/3/10
VISIT 2: Charlton Athletic 3-0 Gillingham 17/4/17
VISIT 3: Charlton Athletic 1-2 Gillingham 1/1/18
VISIT 4: Charlton Athletic 2-0 Gillingham 22/12/18

VISIT 2 TO THE VALLEY, CHARLTON 3-0 GILLINGHAM:

Charlton Athletic 3-0 Gillingham
Monday 17th April 2017
League One



It was only my 2nd visit to The Valley which I was, and I repeat was, looking forward to. My only visit to The Valley came in 2010, so it was good to have a re-visit to The Valley 7 years later. Of course it's only a short journey to Charlton, especially as it takes me 40-45 mins for home games with Gillingham, and from home to Charlton only takes about an hour according to the sat-nav, so not a lot of time difference that's for sure! Anyway, I woke up about 11 as I wanted to get up a bit earlier due to Leeds v Norwich tickets going on general sale at 9, so I wanted to make sure and get that as that's another groundhopping trip of mine planned coming up on the 29th which I'm looking forward to. Usually I would have ticked off Elland Road when Gillingham played them a few years ago, but I wasn't doing as many away games then as I do now, so will be nice to finally tick off Elland Road in a couple of weeks. After that, I had some breakfast and got ready to leave and left just before half 12. Picked up Dave, a good mate of mine at his house in Lordswood and arrived into Charlton about 1.45pm. I think funnily enough we parked in a road with permit bays, but luckily the car didn't get clamped after the game which was a bit of luck. So as we parked about a 10 minute walk away, we arrived into the ground just after 2. Wasn't a bad view from where we stood, although I did recognise a lot of things 7 years later after my 1st visit to The Valley so not a lot has changed. Met up with Barnsey and had a nice chat, giving me positive feedback about my blog which is always nice to hear. He travelled up with former Gills physio coach James Russell, even jokingly said to him we want him and our former title League Two winning manager Martin 'Mad Dog' Allen back haha! Anyway onto the game itself, well it's pretty much what I say every other week. Another abysmal dreadful away performance which saw Charlton score 3 easy goals past us. 1st goal, header from a corner. 2nd goal, free-kick. 3rd goal, just a easy goal from a simple pass into the box for Charlton to score. Just too easy. I've already said, I'm not bothering to do many away games as much next season, especially from 1 clown of a manager to another. Just no passion at all, the players sadly don't give a toss. Just a shame it was another decent day but ruined by 90 minutes of football, again. After watching that shower of shite, we dropped Dave off at his at got home shortly after 7. Apart from the football, it was nice to have a re-visit to The Valley.