Former Premier League club ‘set to share stadium with rugby side Wasps’ after being banished from top tier
FORMER Premier League outfit Charlton Athletic are set to share their stadium with rugby team Wasps, according to reports.
Wasps are looking for a new home after being relegated from the Premiership in 2022 when the club went into administration.
According to The Times, that new home could be Charlton Athletic‘s ground, The Valley.
They claim that Wasps are eyeing both a return to professional rugby and a spot inside the 27,000-seater stadium at the same time.
Once a top flight club, Wasps’ £95m debt saw them banished from the Premiership and set for a drop all the way down to the TENTH TIER of the English rugby union system.
However, it’s claimed by The Times that the club are hoping to have their place in the Championship reinstated for the 2025/26 season after rugby execs began laying the foundations for them to be parachuted into the second tier.
And if those plans do go ahead, Wasps look likely to share their home with League One football club Charlton.
Wasps are said to be hoping to set up in Kent, with the area a supposed hotbed for community clubs and regrowing Wasps as a national side.
The Valley isn’t actually located in Kent, but is situated very close by in south east London.
Wasps had bid to build their own 28,000-seat stadium in Sevenoaks, but have faced strong local opposition to their proposed plans – forcing them to look at other options.
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Wasps had previously shared Coventry City‘s Ricoh Arena before they went bust in 2022.
They also played at Wycombe Wanderers‘ Adams Park and QPR’s Loftus Road in the past.
The move to The Valley could prove difficult going forward with Charlton’s men’s side not the only team to use the stadium as things stand.
The Addicks’ women’s team made the permanent move to the former Premier League ground for the 2024/25 season.
Three teams playing in one stadium could throw up issues regarding fixture congestion.
Charlton do not currently own the stadium, rather they rent it from the club’s controversial former owner Roland Ducharelet.
Their current lease is set to expire in 2035.