ALAN Curbishley is not the sort of man who normally gets emotional, but when he picked up a framed photo of a once-derelict Valley and saw plans for the club's new £9m two-tier north stand, you sensed that memories were flooding back.

Work began on the preparation for Charlton's enlarged north stand on Monday, and when it is finished, the ground's seating capacity will be increased to more than 26,000.

“I played my first game for Charlton against Grimsby in 1984,” he said. “It's a huge step forward for us to becoming a bigger club. The extra 6,000 fans which this development will generate, is just what we badly need.”

But will there be any money left to buy new players?

“I don't know. I think it's all going to go in the mixer with all the extra money generated by the extra fans.

“We have a lot of supporters who are currently unable to get tickets, while away teams have been very limited in the number we can offer them. This is going to help enormously.”

Meanwhile, Curbishley is extremely happy about the way things have gone in a season which many predicted would end with a return ticket to Division One.

“Our major priority was to stay up and, hopefully, we have done that now. But there are eight games left and we will work hard to get as many points as possible.

“Remaining in the Premiership was the first step in attempting to make Charlton a bigger club and building a larger stadium is the next.”

Curbishley puts Charlton's achievement down to the size of the squad. He said: “To compete in the premiership it is essential to have a large squad and we have had players come in and out on a regular basis, and they have done well.”

Despite this, Curbishley will be trying to strengthen the squad further, adding: “We are always looking for more players.”

Charlton officials approached hundreds of what their PLC chairman Richard Murray called their “richer fans”.

The plan is for 100 supporters to contribute £25,000 each towards a new share fund which will help

finance the cost of the new stand.

In return. those fans will get a season ticket for 40 years which can be passed on to their next of kin in the event of their death.

Mr Murray, holding up the picture of a derelict Valley taken in 1992 at last Thursday's press conference as a reminder on how far the club has progressed in the last 10 years, said: “The new stand will include lots of new

facilities including hospitality and media suites, offices, reception, medical unit, plus wider and bigger concourses.

“We should have four to five hundred seats in by the start of next season and a further 3,000 by the third week of November.

“Full completion of seating is scheduled for the middle of December, while all the remainder of the internal fit-out should be finished by next February.”

He added: “I think this is just a further example of us justifying ourselves as the biggest club south of The Thames. We have no doubt that we can sell out the enlarged stadium and that Charlton has a very bright future.”

Ian Rimmer, the project manager for Birse Construction which has been awarded the building contract, said: “Our company has worked in conjunction with Preston, Blackburn, Manchester United, Oxford and Chelsea on similar projects.”

Mr Murray stressed that supporters would not be affected in any way by the rebuilding work.

“That was one of the key areas we looked at, and we are very grateful to our advisers, designers and Birse in arranging a system where we are not going to upset our fans who are already sitting in the north stand.”

Mr Rimmer added: “The existing north stand will stay operational for the rest of this season and the roof will stay on until all but the last match.

“Workmen will then have to start taking the roof off, but the seats will still be operational and the majority of the new structure will be in place and operational, apart from the east corner, before next season starts.”

Greenwich Council have been in talks with the club and there have been no problems. “We have been through access routes and all of the possible objections,” Mr Rimmer added.

Alan Curbishley concluded. “We have 3,000 in the north stand at the moment and they make a great deal of noise, which the players love.

“Obviously, the more we can get in, the better it will be for our players.”