Valley Gold

Valley Gold enables fans to support the club in unearthing the talents of tomorrow - as well as giving them the chance to scoop up to £5,000 in regular cash prizes. The matchday draw scheme was originally set up in 1989 to help finance the return to The Valley, which was achieved in December 1992. Since the mid-1990s, the club's youth set-up has be... nefited from the money it has raised, and the scheme celebrated its 20th anniversary in August 2009. For an annual subscription of £120, members are entered into cash draws at every home league match, as well as receiving many other benefits. WHY IS VALLEY GOLD SO IMPORTANT? Under the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP), the club's academy is currently assessed as Category 2. Becoming a Category 1 club is important for recruiting and retaining the very best youth talent, as it enables them to compete against the best sides in their age group on a weekly basis. Category 1 clubs are also able to freely 'scout' lower category clubs. The average cost of running a Category 2 academy is £1.6m per annum. From a financial perspective, this represents the second biggest cost centre of the club, with the largest being the first-team squad. This is a huge level of cost to support each year, which is why the Football Club continues to be so grateful to Valley Gold members for its fundraising efforts.Read More