THE steadily increasing capacity of The Valley in recent weeks means that Charlton are now able to offer tickets for sale on a match-by-match basis.

Indeed, from January 1, FA Premier League rules oblige the club to make five per cent or 1,350 seats available for casual sale to home fans.

Chief executive Peter Varney said: "It's great the ground has been sold out in recent years, but there is a problem in that fans without season tickets have got used to the idea that they can't get in.

"We have also had to devise a new mem-bership scheme to make sure that when match tickets are available to see the likes of Manchester United, the seats actually go to Charlton fans."

To mark completion of the last stage of the new north stand seating on Saturday, December 22, the club is offering a special combined ticket for that day's home match against Blackburn Rovers and the New Year's Day visit of Ipswich Town.

Seats for these games are £20 adults, £15 seniors, and £10 juniors. But fans buying for both fixtures at once will pay only £5 more than the one-off price in each cate-gory a saving of £15 for an adult. These tickets go on sale this Saturday.

From next month the club will be operating a membership scheme. Sales will not usually be restricted to members for the less attractive games, but fans who register and buy regularly will have more chance of success for the more glamorous opposition.

For example, purchasers against Aston Villa and Derby in January will get a higher priority for the next home match, against Manchester United. Further pref-erence will be given to Valley Gold mem-bers.

Registration for the new membership scheme will start on December 22, with forms available from the ticket office, as well as the chance to join on-line via the club's website.

Meanwhile, it's still not too late to buy a season ticket for the remainder of the campaign, which includes visits from United, Arsenal and Chelsea.

One adult and one child can sit in the new family section for the ten matches starting with Blackburn for a combined £150. Other north stand seats are £155 adults, £100 seniors, U18s and £69 U16s.

Season-ticket enquiries should be directed to 0800 5871100, while match tickets can be purchased on 020 8333 4010.

December 4, 2001 12:25