England
The Valley
The Valley is a 27 000 capacity football stadium in Charlton, London. Its primary use throughout its history has been hosting the home matches for Charlton Athletic FC, although it did briefly host London's main rugby league team, London Broncos, for two different periods.
In Charlton Athletic FC's early years, the club had a nomadic existence using several different grounds between its formation in 1905 and the beginning of the First World War in 1914. The ground dates from 1919, at a time when the club was moderately successful and looking for a new home. 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 spoil from the excavation to build up the sides. 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 record attendance at the stadium was 75 000, in a match between Charlton Athletic FC and Aston Villa FC, in February 1938. In 1992 the stadium reopened after several renovations.
