What AI thinks Charlton Athletic's stadium The Valley will look like in the year 2050 | OneFootball

Charlton Athletic's The Valley has seen a lot of changes over the years, so FLW asked ChatGPT what it might look like by 2050.

Charlton Athletic and The Valley have a long and complex history which dates back to 1919, and which includes a seven-year period from 1985 to 1992 when they had to play at Selhurst Park and the Boleyn Ground.

Charlton have been back there for more than three decades now, and redevelopment work carried out then has turned it into a modern stadium capable of holding Premier League football.

There was a time when it was one of Britain's biggest grounds, with a record attendance of just over 75,000 and a huge open terrace which ran one length of one side the pitch.

But subsidence issues with this terrace which became apparent in the late 1970s made renovation work difficult and expensive - in one fell swoop in 1979, the Safety of Sports Grounds Act cut its capacity from 66,000 to 20,000 - at a time when the club was already teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. By 1984, they were only saved from closure at the very last minute.

Three sides of the ground were rebuilt in the decade after the club moved back, but it's now been almost a quarter of a century since the last of these was completed, so what might it look like in another quarter of a century's time? With all of this in mind, FLW has asked the AI chatbot, ChatGPT, what The Valley could look like in 2050.

AI predicts that Charlton's commitment to modernisation will see The Valley evolve

ChatGPT predicts that The Valley's redevelopment will be in line with the club's commitment to modernisation and history of fan engagement. Charlton fans, after all, launched a political party to get the club back home in the early 1990s.

AI also suggests that technological developments will also be at the forefront of any new developments, including augmented reality experiences, smart seating, and improved digital connectivity. Sustainability will also be important, including energy-efficiency from renewable sources.

And tapping into the club's history a little, AI also suggests that The Valley could have a multipurpose future. In 1967, speedway promoter Len Silver got planning permission to put a speedway track round the pitch, only for the plans to come to nothing over concerns about the noise.

Talking of noise, nine years later, rock band The Who broke the record for the loudest concert ever recorded when they played there. It makes perfect sense that the stadium could have more uses that serve as revenue-generators for the club in the future.

The Valley will grow again, but not to the size it once was

Promotion from League One to the Championship is a start, but it seems unlikely that Charlton will limit their ambitions to this. The current capacity of the stadium is 27,111, but AI predicts that this will increase over time.

Two decades ago, they received planning permission to expand the capacity of The Valley to 40,600, but these plans were shelved following relegation from the Premier League in 2007 and the club haven't returned since.

Even their current stadium capacity is okay for the position in which they find themselves now, and it compares favourably to other London clubs, barring the Premier League giants Arsenal, Spurs, West Ham and Chelsea.

But growth will be the aim, and Charlton took their first steps towards getting back to where they used to be with their play-off final win against Leyton Orient. It's only a small step, and if the club's history is anything to go by, the next quarter of a century will be eventful, and The Valley will evolve as Charlton Athletic do.