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FA Community Shield
Association Football championship game From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is an annual match in English football contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the same team wins both the league and the FA Cup, the match is played against the Premier League runners-up. The fixture is traditionally held in early August and serves as the opening match of the English football season, functioning as a ceremonial curtain-raiser rather than a major competitive honour.[1]
Organised by the FA, the match generates proceeds that are directed towards community initiatives and charitable causes across the country. Revenue from ticket sales and match programmes is distributed among the 124 clubs that took part in the FA Cup from the first round proper onwards, with each club nominating charities or projects to receive the funds. The remaining balance is allocated to the FA's national charity partners.[2] First played in the 1908–09 season as a replacement for the Sheriff of London Charity Shield, the match has since become a regular fixture. The current holders are 2023–24 Premier League champions Manchester City, who defeated 2023–24 FA Cup winners Manchester United 7–6 on penalties following a 1–1 draw in the 2024 fixture.
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History
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The Community Shield evolved from the Sheriff of London Charity Shield, introduced in 1898,[3] which was originally contested between teams of professionals and amateurs, reflecting the 'gentlemen and players' tradition.[4] The Football Association Charity Shield, as it was then known, was created to replace the Sheriff of London Charity Shield after leading amateur clubs became estranged from the FA.[5] The inaugural match in 1908 was played between Manchester United, the Football League First Division champions, and Queens Park Rangers, the Southern League champions. After a 1–1 draw in the first game, United won 4–0 in the replay, marking the only occasion the Shield required a second leg. Both matches were played at Stamford Bridge.[3]
The format of the competition varied in its early years. In 1913 it featured Amateurs versus Professionals XIs, and in 1921 the Shield was first contested between the Football League and FA Cup winners. Throughout the 1920s the fixture often continued the amateur versus professional theme, including the 1927 match between Cardiff City as FA Cup holders and the Corinthians representing the amateurs. In 1930 the competition settled into its now-familiar format of pitting the league champions against the FA Cup winners, with few exceptions. Notable deviations include the 1950 Shield between the England national team and an FA team returning from a tour of Canada,[3] and the 1961 fixture where double-winning Tottenham Hotspur played a Football Association XI.[6]
The match has been held at the start of the season since 1959.[6] Situations where one club won both the league and FA Cup created inconsistencies in opposition. In 1971, Arsenal declined to participate due to prior commitments, so Leicester City, as Second Division champions, faced FA Cup runners-up Liverpool and won the trophy, despite having never previously won the League or FA Cup.[7] In 1972 and 1973, several clubs declined invitations, leading to irregular pairings such as Manchester City versus Aston Villa and Burnley.[8] In 1974, FA secretary Ted Croker formalised the modern format of league champions versus FA Cup winners, hosted annually at Wembley Stadium.[3] Between 1949 and 1991, eleven editions of the Shield were shared following drawn results,[9] but since 1993, penalty shoot-outs have been used to determine a winner.[3]
The formation of the Premier League in 1992 led to the Shield becoming a showcase between the Premier League and FA Cup winners starting from the 1993 edition. In 2002, the Charity Commission ruled that the Football Association had failed to fulfil its charitable obligations, including delays in disbursing funds and a lack of transparency over gate revenue allocation.[10] This led to the competition being renamed the Community Shield.[11] Arsenal won the first edition under the new name, defeating Liverpool 1–0.[12] In 2016, the FA's silversmith Thomas Lyte restored and rebuilt the original 1908 Shield to mark the 50th anniversary of England’s 1966 FIFA World Cup triumph. The trophy was then auctioned for £40,000 to support the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK, which became the FA’s official charity partner that year.[13][14] The auction was held at The Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, the same venue where England had celebrated their 1966 victory.
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Rules
The rules of the Community Shield are generally the same as those of the Premier League, with a team of 11 starting players and 7 substitutes. However, unlike in most other competitions where only five substitutions are permitted, teams in the Community Shield are permitted up to six substitutions. If the scores are level after 90 minutes, the teams play a penalty shootout.[15] If a team wins both the Premier League and the FA Cup, the runners-up from the Premier League will be the opposition.[16]
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Status
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Serving as England's super cup between the previous season's Premier League champions and FA Cup winners, the Community Shield is regarded as the "curtain-raiser" for the English football season.[17][18][19] The Football Association (FA) officially classifies the Community Shield as a friendly match for disciplinary purposes, and clubs and players consistently treat it as such. Consequently, disciplinary sanctions such as yellow and red cards received during the match are not carried over into the regular season.[20] Additionally, goals scored in the Community Shield do not contribute towards individual award tallies.[1]
Many teams treat it like a pre-season friendly, using the occasion to give match practice to fringe players or those returning from injury. BBC Sport pundit Mark Lawrenson and The Guardian writer Tom Bryant have both described the fixture as a "glorified friendly".[21][22] Prior to the 2008 FA Community Shield, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson summed up his view of the competition, stating: "The Community Shield is a prestigious match but I have used players in it who were not quite fit... it's always a game we never quite use as a do or die thing; we use it as a barometer for fitness".[23][24]
Despite this, some teams and players seek to elevate the importance of the Shield, especially when traditional rivals meet. Chelsea's John Terry expressed disappointment after losing the Shield to Arsenal,[25] while managers such as Claudio Ranieri, before the 2016 FA Community Shield, emphasised the competitive nature, insisting players would perform at their best to prove themselves.[18] Similarly, Antonio Conte described the 2017 fixture against Arsenal as relatively important,[26] and Pep Guardiola called the 2018 match against Chelsea "the first final" of the season, urging players to prove their worth.[27]
Records
- The most successful teams in the competition are Manchester United (17 outright wins, 4 shared), Arsenal (16 outright wins, 1 shared), Liverpool (11 outright wins, 5 shared) and Everton (8 outright wins, 1 shared).
- Chelsea (2010, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2018) and Newcastle United (1932, 1951, 1952, 1955 and 1996) share the joint-longest run of appearances without winning or sharing the trophy.
- The highest scoring game was Manchester United's 8–4 win against Swindon Town in 1911.[3]
- Everton hold the record for most consecutive wins (4) from 1984 to 1987; however, the 1986 'win' was shared with Liverpool. Manchester United hold the record for most consecutive losses (4) from 1998 to 2001. During this period Manchester United also held the record for most consecutive games played (6) from 1996 to 2001 in which they won 2.
- Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Pat Jennings scored against Manchester United from his own penalty area in the 1967 Charity Shield, which was shared at 3–3.[3]
- Brighton & Hove Albion are the only club[D] to win just the Shield (in 1910), never the FA Cup or the League. In the five years that the Charity Shield was contested by the winners of the Football League and Southern League between 1908 and 1912, this was the only occasion on which the Southern League champions prevailed. The victory remains Brighton's only national honour to date and they were crowned the 'Champions of all England'.[28]
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Venues
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For purposes of clarity, venues mentioned in italics in this section no longer exist.
Permanent venues
Since 1974, the Community Shield has been at a permanent home rather than guest venues.[29]
- Old Wembley Stadium: 1974–2000
- Millennium Stadium: 2001–2006
- New Wembley Stadium: 2007–2011, 2013–2021, 2023–present
Neutral and guest host venues
The fixture was originally played at various neutral grounds or at the home ground of one of the competing teams. In total, there have been eighteen host grounds other than the aforementioned permanent three. The first ground to host the fixture was Stamford Bridge in 1908 and the last ground that guest hosted the fixture was the King Power Stadium in 2022,[vn 2] which was due to Wembley hosting the final of UEFA Women's Euro 2022 on the following day.[30]
Seven grounds have hosted the fixture once: St James' Park in 1932, Roker Park in 1936, Burnden Park in 1958, Turf Moor in 1960, Portman Road in 1962, Anfield in 1964 and Elland Road in 1969. Leicester City have hosted the fixture twice, at Filbert Street in 1971 and the King Power Stadium in 2022. A further nine grounds have hosted the fixture on multiple occasions (see table).
Notes
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Winners
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By year
By number of wins (clubs)
By number of wins (other)
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Winners and runners-up by competition
- Notes
- ^ Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Aston Villa and Burnley were invited to take part in the Shield these years because either the First Division or FA Cup winners declined or were unable to participate. Other participants have been the runner-ups of the FA Cup or the defending champions of the Shield throughout the years, however they are listed in this table based on how they qualified for the Shield.
- ^ The FA invited Corinthians FC to take part as an amateur representative against FA Cup winners Cardiff City.
- ^ In matches between the First Division/Premier League champions and FA Cup winners, the First Division/Premier League champion won the Shield 42 times and the FA Cup winner 20 times, while it was shared 10 times.
- ^ Leicester City jointly held this record following their 1971 win, but eventually qualified through the traditional route following their league win in 2016.
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References
External links
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