We are the only professional team in Kent! As away fans you do seem very distant from the other sides of the ground.Ridiculous priced drinks and food £4.80 for a small plastic warm bottle of cider. The journey proved no problem and took a little under two hours.We went to a chippy just outside the ground which had very reasonably priced food. We away fans housed in the South Stand are arguably in the stand most in need of modernising, although what is currently there is more than adequate, I’m consistently led to believe that the club favours putting an extra tier on the East stand before doing anything to the South Stand.
Leeds came in on a ‘bad’ run, if you can call it that, with frustration high after last weeks dropped points at home to Derby.Came down on one of the official club coaches. The travel was relatively straight forward with the usual delays in London traffic. I had no reason to doubt that this evening would be any different, and I joined my train at Chatham looking forward to having a few pre-match beers with an old school colleague who is like myself exiled in the south-east. A decent day out that would've been perfect but for that missed open goal!Living in South East London, and with no Millwall fixture this season, this is the nearest away game to me, The Valley is one of my favourite grounds, partly because they are team of my father, uncle and many of my cousins.
I had a medium portion of chips for just £1.50. A bit tough on Charlton I suppose, especially as their Arsenal loanee Sanogo scored a hat-trick.
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. Although the food and beverage kiosks were well manned with staff, queues were still quite long.Our seats were in the Central Block of the North Stand Lower Tier behind the goal in Row S, about 20 rows from the very front. My daughter drove to our meeting point, the Millennium Leisure Park from Essex.
At that point it looked like we'd make it to London with plenty of time to spare. 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. Thankfully we came out in the second half with more intent but sadly the finishing skills of an under 7's team! The outside of the North Stand is a mixture of yellow brick with red cladding and exposed steel struts on the upper sections of the roof. A tip I remembered from my last visit was to head toward the high rise tower block which is visible long before the ground is.
The matchday atmosphere was very good, the PA system was excellent and really added to things.
Leave the A102 at the next slip road (sign posted Woolwich & Ferry A206). The Valley was still owned by the old club owners and this led to Charlton entering into a ground share of Selhurst Park with Crystal Palace. Charlton had lots of players out injured, Wednesday won 3-1 but we made hard work of it. There are other bus routes covering the same journey, too. Carey for Argyle tried his luck from distance but his shot went wide whilst Ajose for Charlton brought a good save out of the Argyle keeper.
Some supporters travel home further to parts of Kent within striking distance of London, such as Slade Green and Dartford, all of which are considered to be strongholds of Charlton support. The pub was packed full, with both set of supporters mixing without any trouble.
The away end is quite open so quite chilly if cold and a wind blowing.
We drove down via the M11 and A2. I am not sure that the pub would ever struggle for trade. 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.
However, I would commend the stewards, who took a relaxed attitude to the away supporters who stood throughout the match, although expect to be searched on the way in'.
It's a two-tiered stand with a central concourse, fans using the upper tier enter from the rear of the stand. At this stage we hadn't seen one home fan! Likewise, having all the fans filter in and out of one entrance meant a very snug pile up at half and full time. As the stand is the oldest & very basic I don't think the facade would be anything spectacular! A cup of hot water plus a teabag is £2.20.From the away end, you get quite a good view of the rest of the ground.
Otherwise, it was a good day out. I was particularly impressed with the loud P.A. Argyle had sold a total of 3,000 tickets for the game so a great following from the green army!The train journey to London was uneventful and it is a short train ride from Cannon Street to Charlton Station and the ground.The pubs in Charlton did not sound anything great so I got off at Greenwich. All too soon the game ended and I managed to get to the station and on a train back to central London almost straight away.Well it was the day I had been looking forward too for ages. It was a bustling pub, with a proud bust of Nelson near the door. I had a pleasant day out and would go again. It needs some TLC just to make it look clean and tidy. It is worth noting that there are refreshment areas on either side of the stand. My daughter wanted a new Charlton top since it's her team. A very subdued journey home for our coach but the Valley has plenty of character and is a decent enough away day.We live in North London so very easy by Tube. I could see the opposite platform still three deep with bored and frustrated Watford fans waiting for a train to take them into the city.
I ventured down to use the loo at half-time & queued less time than I normally have to at Elland Road to be fair. We’d played well in earlier matches and not got results the show for it, and it was pleasing to see the hard work and determination pay off with a win that lifted us out of the dreaded drop zone. Fittingly Steven Fletcher scored two on St. Andrews Day, while Nuhui grabbed a late third in a game that we were in control of for long periods. I didn't have any dealings with the stewards but they seemed fairly relaxed.
Once we got through the short journey into South London was pretty straight forward.