CHARLTON Athletic Supporters Trust’s bid to secure Asset of Community Value (ACV) status has won backing from the football club.

The fans’ group last week unveiled plans to obtain the status, which gives supporters a six-month window of opportunity to bid for the The Valley should Charlton ever be forced to leave the stadium like it did for Selhurst Park almost three decades ago.

And although Charlton’s chief operating officer Steve Bradshaw was quick to point out the chance of such a scenario recurring was highly unlikely, he was still happy to lend support to the CAS Trust’s proposed bid.

Mr Bradshaw told cafc.co.uk: “The club’s exile from The Valley in the late 1980s and early 90s, and subsequent battle to return home in conjunction with its fans, saw a special relationship built between the two parties.

“We are committed to preserving and continuing this relationship.

“There are no current plans to move stadium, and of course we would always give fans the opportunity to have their say in the event that such a situation arose, so the club would support proposals that would formalise this right to consultation.”

Welcoming Charlton’s official backing for the status bib, CAS Trust vice chairman Craig Sloman added: “Club support is very important for ACV status, but Addicks must not rest on our laurels, we need a good showing of support for the application so please keep those signatures coming.

“We wrote to the chairman Michael Slater recently letting him know our intentions before we launched the campaign last week.

“He rang our chairman a few days later to let us know the club’s view and I am very pleased to now read this statement which confirms that.

“We will continue to engage with the board and management of CAFC in the hope of building on recent achievements and forging a constructive relationship.

“We do after all have a lot of interests in common, the main one being the success of Charlton Athletic on and off the pitch.”

For more information on the CAS Trust, or to sign the petition, visit castrust.org/valleyacv

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