FA Community Shield

Chelsea tifo being carried through Wembley Stadium before the 2007 match

The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is a one-off annual English club association football match contested between the Premier League Champions and the FA Cup winners at the national football stadium, Wembley Stadium in London. It is played as a season opening game between the previous season's league/cup winners (or the league runners up if the league champions won The Double of league and cup).The winners of the game receive the Shield as a trophy for the year, while players also receive individual winners medals. The current holders are Manchester United, who beat the 2009–10 season Double winners Chelsea 3–1 in normal time in the 2010 Community Shield held on 8 August 2010.

Organised by the Football Association, proceeds from the game are distributed to community-based initiatives and charities around the country. Revenue from the gate receipts and match programme sales is distributed to the 124 clubs who competed in The FA Cup from the First Round onwards, for onward distribution to charities and projects of their choice, while the remainder is distributed to the FA's national charity partners.^[1] The fixture is seen as a relatively minor honour and is treated almost as a pre-season friendly by many fans and clubs, used as a barometer of fitness levels and team tactics for the coming season. There is no extra time in the game, with draws after 90 minutes settled by penalty shootout; teams are allowed to use six substitutes instead of the normal three.

The fixture was first played in the 1908–09 season, replacing Sheriff of London Charity Shield. The game was initially played at various grounds in various teams, generally settling on the league champion versus FA Cup winner format from 1930, becoming a season opening game from 1954. The present format of a Wembley-based game between the league champions and FA Cup winners, or league runners-up, dates from 1974, being played at the current Wembley stadium since 2007. While the old Wembley Stadium was being demolished and rebuilt, the game was held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.

History

The Community Shield evolved from the Sheriff of London Charity Shield that had been introduced in 1898–99 as a professionals versus amateurs cup (the gentlemen and players tradition).^[2] The Football Association Charity Shield, as it was known at the time, was designed to replace the Sheriff of London Charity Shield after the leading amateur clubs fell out with the FA.^[3] The new format was to have the Football League First Division champions play the Southern League champions, and the first match was in 1908 between Manchester United (the First Division champions) and Queens Park Rangers (the Southern League champions). The match was drawn 1–1, so the game was replayed when Manchester United won 4–0. This is the only Charity Shield game to go to a replay. Both games were played at Stamford Bridge.^[4]

The competition format varied over the years: in 1913 the Shield was contested between Amateurs and Professionals XIs, while in 1921 the Shield was contested between the Football League and FA Cup winners for the first time. The format continued to vary in the 1920s, usually along the lines of Amateurs v. Professionals, including one year (1927) where the Professionals were represented by the FA Cup holders Cardiff City and the Amateurs by the Corinthians.

In 1930 the Football League winner v. FA Cup winner returned, and with a few exceptions, this format has remained to the present day. Notable exceptions include the 1950 Shield, which involved the England World Cup team against an FA team that had toured Canada that summer, and the 1961 Shield, when Tottenham Hotspur became the first team of the 20th century to win the Double. As they won both trophies, they instead faced a Football Association XI.

By then, the date of the game had been moved to the start of the season, from 1959 onwards. The question of which two teams should contest the Shield should one team win both the FA Cup and League continued to linger. In 1971, Arsenal became the second team to win the Double since the Shield's foundation, but owing to their previously arranged pre-season friendly matches, they could not take part. Leicester City were invited as Division Two champions to play FA Cup runners-up Liverpool instead and went on to win the trophy, despite having not won either the League or the FA Cup. In 1972, league champions Derby County and FA Cup winners Leeds United both declined to take part in the Charity Shield, so Manchester City, who had finished in fourth in the First Division, and Third Division champions Aston Villa were invited to take part; Manchester City won 1–0.

In 1974 the then FA secretary, Ted Croker, created the current format with the match always being played at Wembley Stadium and the money raised at the gate going to charity. The first game at Wembley was notable for the sendings off of Kevin Keegan and Billy Bremner for fighting, shown that night on BBC television. Both were fined £500, Keegan being banned for three matches and Bremner eight. Croker also initiated the current arrangement that should a team win the Double then they will play the league runners-up in the Charity Shield.

The game is decided on the day with penalty shoot-out if the scores are level (after 90 minutes, no extra time is played), though between 1949 and 1993 the Shield was usually shared if the game was drawn. Furthermore, unlike a normal competitive game, teams are allowed six, rather than three substitutions.

With the formation of a new top league, the FA Premier League, the Shield became a match between the Premier League and FA Cup winners from the 1993 competition onwards.

Due to the reconstruction of Wembley Stadium, Charity/Community Shield matches took place at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff from 2001 to 2006 inclusive. The 2001 fixture between Liverpool and Manchester United was the first Charity Shield match to take place under an enclosed roof.

In 2002, the competition was renamed the Community Shield; a small scandal surrounding questionable distribution of money raised for charities by the match led to a renaming of the match as part of a reform of the competition. Arsenal were the first winners of the Community Shield with a 1–0 victory over Liverpool.

The 2006 Community Shield game, where Liverpool defeated Chelsea 2–1, was the first not to be contested by either Arsenal or Manchester United since 1995, when Everton beat Blackburn 1–0 at Wembley Stadium.

Status

While still an honour in the English game, the Community Shield has markedly lower status than the Premier League, FA Cup or even the League Cup. It is widely considered to be a minor trophy and Community Shield games may not be as hotly contested as other trophy finals. The Community Shield has been described by some media sources, including Mark Lawrenson, as a "glorified friendly".^[5][6][7] Prior to the 2008 FA Community Shield, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson aptly summarized his opinion for the competition: "It's always a game we never quite use of a do or die thing, we use it as a barometer for fitness".^[8]

Records

• The most successful teams in the competition are Manchester United (14 outright wins, 4 shared), Liverpool (10 outright wins, 5 shared), Arsenal (11 outright wins, 1 shared) and Everton (8 outright wins, 1 shared).
• The highest scoring game was Manchester United's 8–4 win against Swindon Town in 1911.
• The most successful player in the competition is Ryan Giggs with 8 outright wins (1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010 with Manchester United).
• Ryan Giggs also holds the record of the most Shield appearances, with 14 to his name.
• Everton hold the record for most consecutive wins (4) from 1984 to 1987; however, the 1986 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 goalkeeper Pat Jennings scored against Manchester United in the 1967 Charity Shield.
• Leicester City and Brighton & Hove Albion are the only clubs to win just the Shield, never the FA Cup or the League; Leicester won as Second Division champion (see above) and Brighton as Southern League champions.

Winners

By year

^[9]

By number of wins (clubs only)

^[9]

Venues

• Old Trafford 1922, 1928, 1952, 1957, 1965, 1967
• Highbury 1924, 1934, 1935, 1938, 1948, 1949, 1953
• White Hart Lane 1912, 1920, 1921, 1925, 1951, 1961
• Stamford Bridge 1908–1911, 1923, 1927, 1930, 1950, 1955, 1970
• The Den 1913, 1929
• Maine Road 1926, 1937, 1956, 1968, 1973
• Villa Park 1931, 1972
• St James' Park 1932
• Goodison Park 1933, 1963, 1966
• Roker Park 1936
• Molineux 1954, 1959
• Burnden Park 1958
• Turf Moor 1960
• Portman Road 1962
• Anfield 1964
• Elland Road 1969
• Filbert Street 1971
• Wembley Stadium 1974–2000
• Millennium Stadium 2001–2006
• Wembley Stadium 2007–

Media coverage

In recent years, the Community Shield has always been broadcast live on Sky Sports with highlights on either BBC or ITV. The only exception was the 2008 Community Shield, which was broadcast on Setanta Sports. After the collapse of Setanta, Sky regained the rights for the 2009 Community Shield between Manchester United and Chelsea – a replay of the last Community Shield game Sky had. The commentary team for this game is usually Andy Gray and Martin Tyler.

In Australia, the Community Shield is broadcast by Setanta Sports. In the United States, the Community Shield is broadcast by Fox Soccer Channel (FSC).

References

External links

• FA website - History of the Community Shield
• RSSSF archive of results