Former Premier League ground left unrecognisable during seven-year abandonment

A former Premier League club's ground was once left abandoned for some seven years and fans even had a kickabout on the overgrown pitch.

Charlton Athletic are based in South London and won promotion to the Premier League in 1998 initially, before Alan Curbishley helped the club return to the English top flight in 2000 as the Addicks bounced back from relegation.

The high point for the club in this time came during the 2003/04 season when Curbishley led Charlton to seventh place, which was the club's highest finish since the 1950s.

Curbishley departed Charlton in 2006 with his final game for the club being a 4-0 loss away to Manchester United.

The following season, the Addicks ended up being relegated after going through three managers in the form of Iain Dowie, Les Reed and Alan Pardew.

Since 2007, the club has spent its time between the Championship and League One, and has been through multiple changes of ownership.

Charlton won promotion back to the Championship under the leadership of Nathan Jones after beating Leyton Orient 1-0 in the League One play-off final last season.

For much of the club's history, it has called The Valley its home after first playing there back in 1919 - but there was a seven-year spell where that was not the case.

The Valley, Charlton Athletic's home ground, was left abandoned for some seven years. (Image: Getty)

The Valley was vacated by Charlton between 1985 and 1992 as the club was unable to fund improvements which were needed to comply with new safety requirements.

The Addicks ended up ground sharing with Crystal Palace for the use of Selhurst Park.

By 1991, the stadium was beginning its reconstruction and Charlton again moved across London to share West Ham United's then home of Upton Park.

The new Valley was eventually reopened in December 1992 - but pictures between the club leaving and returning show the stadium becoming overgrown and in a rundown state.

Pictures from that period show the grass in desperate need of being cut and moments where Charlton fans - who had volunteered to clean the stadium up which had rubbish and even a shopping trolley strewn on the grass - having a kickabout on the pitch and even burning debris in a bonfire.

Other images show rubbish strewn outside the ground by the turnstiles where fans would enter the stadiumon matchdays.

And the terraces have large weeds sprouting out of them without the feet of supporters to stop them growing as the stadium entered a state of disrepair.

Since the club returned to the Valley, multiple expansions have taken place with several of the stands rebuilt to give it a current capacity of 27,111.