You do get a feeling that maybe the ground is a bit too big for Charlton Athletic. Nice and compact. The stewards seemed friendly, however the amount of police and security present you would of thought it was a local derby.
(I wish we had a player called Yaya! A very good level of atmosphere can be generated.It was certainly a game of two halves with Bradford City dominating the first one and Charlton doing the same in the second.
With so many games in a season, it can seem to be a bit of a trail to marshal yourself through the campaign.
Good fun.In the main the stewarding was good apart from one chap who, when seeing I had a plastic bottle of water in my bag chose to plunge his hand in, take it out, remove the top and hand it back. The views are very good from all other stands, and I am in a good position to testify that as I have sat in all other parts of the ground apart from the East Stand. Stewards also were very friendly.Although we were quite early, we decided to go into the ground after checking we could get a drink! This diminished the anticipation but it had been a few years since I last went to the Valley so I was looking forward to seeing the place again.Both trips were by train but the first had an unwanted delay as trains from New Street Birmingham to London were cancelled. To make yourself feel a bit more uplifted when you watch Charlton, there is a pretty impressive selection of food outlets including the chance to have a salt beef roll cut in front of you by a carvery chef. The West Stand on one side is a good sized two-tiered stand, whilst opposite is the smaller single tiered East Stand, where the vast open terrace, reputedly the country's biggest, was located until demolished in the 1990's. However, being in London there are ample places to eat/drink around the Valley. Outside this stand is an impressive statue to Sam Bartram, one of Charlton’s most famous ever players and goalkeeper, who spent 19 years with the Addicks over a period spanning the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Stewards were friendly, pragmatic and good.A disappointing result for us should have got at least a draw but that’s football for you. We had been to a number of away games before the new year which had yielded some truly dispiriting results, but Reading's fortunes seemed to be improving of late. Getting home took forever as the Blackwall Tunnel was very busy.A great day out for my birthday, great ground to visit before the game, during the game and after. You're a football fan, therefore, you don't want to drink your water, you want to throw it at someone. 2-0 to the visitors was the final score. Now 27 ticked off my list on my way to completing the 92 .A trip to London was always going to be an attraction and when the fixtures came out a trip to the Valley was always on the cards. Away end is ample for most away support and has great acoustics, however, unless on the front few rows you can not see the goal line!Charlton fans are currently protesting at the way in which their club is run, so they either stayed away [shame] or held up "We are the 2%" cards in the second minute. To be fair from then on it was pretty much one way traffic. For the Home support, today was a happy Valley … something that hasn’t happened too often this past season, judging by the fanzine I bought!As my friend was heading back to Central London, I went in a different direction to him when leaving the ground. I can only surmise that in those days, many fans were hoping on a speedy return to the top flight, and I’d guess that the attendance was easily a good 10,000 down on earlier visits as people drifted away over the intervening years. At that point it looked like we'd make it to London with plenty of time to spare. When we caught the train from London Bridge, we used the last one we could to get there in good time. Luckily for us on board this just happened to be right outside one of the designated pubs for away fans!Straight off the coach and into the pub, The Antigallican. One stand on one side of the pitch was closed due to it being an FA Cup game, as were the upper tiers of the two other home stands. I liked the area but will head somewhere else when next in town.The Valley isn't easily seen as the name suggests, is in a valley but apart from the away end is quite modern and impressive. Bristol City had sacked their manager a few weeks previously and it was anticipated that they would name Lee Johnson as their new manger before this match.
If you don’t want the hassle, the simplest travel option is to take a train from London Bridge going towards Woolwich.
Considering the size of the Valley, as a first time visitor you'd be forgiven for not knowing there was a ground nearby, as it's very much nestled within the nearby houses. Real passion for their team and The Valley, a ground they fought so hard to return back to.The streets leading away from the ground were busy, again with a heavy police prescence.