FA Community Shield

"Charity Shield" redirects here. For other uses, see Charity Shield (disambiguation).

FA Community Shield

Founded	1908
Region	England  Wales
Number of teams	2
Current champions	Manchester United
Most successful club	Manchester United (19 titles)
Website	FA Community Shield
2011 FA Community Shield

The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium. If the Premier League champions also won the FA Cup then the league runners-up provide the opposition. Often seen as a "glorified friendly" which ranks below the FA Cup and League Cup, the fixture is a recognised football Super Cup. 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 was first played in the 1908–09 season, replacing the Sheriff of London Charity Shield.

The current holders are Manchester United, who defeated Manchester City 3–2 in the 2011 Community Shield on 7 August 2011.

History

The Community Shield evolved from the Sheriff of London Charity Shield that had been introduced in 1898–99^[2] as a professionals versus amateurs cup (the gentlemen and players tradition).^[3] 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.^[4] 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.^[2]

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,^[2] and the 1961 Shield, when Tottenham Hotspur became the first team of the 20th century to win the Double, and played a Football Association XI in the 1961 edition.^[5]

The game had been moved to the start of the season from 1959 onwards.^[5] 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 being played at Wembley Stadium, and being contested by the reigning League and FA Cup holders.^[2]

In the 1980s and early 1990s a drawn game resulted in each team holding the trophy for 6 months, but in 1993 penalties were re-introduced to decide drawn games.^[2]

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

In 2002, the competition was renamed the Community Shield.^[6] Arsenal were the first winners of the Community Shield with a 1–0 victory over Liverpool.

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".^[7][8][9] Prior to the 2008 FA Community Shield, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson summarised his opinion of the competition: "It's always a game we never quite use as a do or die thing; we use it as a barometer for fitness".^[10]

Records

• The most successful teams in the competition are Manchester United (15 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.^[2]
• 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 from his own penalty area in the 1967 Charity Shield, which was shared at 3-3.^[2]
• 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.

Venues

Multiple guest and neutral hosts

Ground	Hosts	Years
Stamford Bridge	10	1908-11, 1923, 1927, 1930, 1950[2], 1955, 1970
Highbury	7	1924, 1934, 1935, 1938, 1948, 1949, 1953
White Hart Lane	6	1912, 1920, 1921, 1925, 1951, 1961
Old Trafford	6	1922, 1928, 1952, 1957, 1965, 1967
Maine Road	5	1926, 1937, 1956, 1968, 1973
Goodison Park	3	1933, 1963, 1966
The Den	2	1913, 1929
Villa Park	2	1931, 1972
Molineux	2	1954, 1959

Permanent venues

Since 1974, the Community Shield has been at a permanent home rather than guest venues.^[11]

• Empire Stadium (Old Wembley): 1974–2000
• Millennium Stadium: 2001–2006
• Wembley Stadium (New Wembley): 2007–present

Neutral and guest host venues

The fixture was originally played at various neutral grounds or the home ground of one of the teams competing. In total there have been seventeen host grounds other than the aforementioned permanent three. The first ground to host the fixture was Stamford Bridge in 1908 and the last ground which guest hosted the fixture was the now-demolished Maine Road in 1973.

The 2012 Community Shield is due to be hosted at a guest venue other than Wembley Stadium due to the stadium hosting the 2012 Olympics football tournament. Furthermore the Millennium Stadium is also out of commission as it too is hosting Olympic football. Stadiums being considered include St James' Park, the Stadium of Light and Villa Park. Old Trafford and the City of Manchester Stadium are also being considered but issue over neutrality could prevent this if the 2011 Community Shield between Manchester City and Manchester United is repeated in 2012.^[12]

There have been eight grounds which have hosted the fixture on one single occasion, these being: St James' Park in 1932, Roker Park in 1936, Burnden Park in 1958, Turf Moor in 1960, Portman Road in 1962, Anfield in 1964, Elland Road in 1969 and Filbert Street in 1971. Nine grounds have hosted the fixtures on multiple occasions.

Winners

By year

For a full list of the Shield results and scorers for each year, see List of Community Shield matches.

By number of wins (clubs only)

^[13]

Team	Wins (outright wins/shared titles)	Years (* title was shared)
Manchester United	19 (15/4)	1908, 1911, 1952, 1956, 1957, 1965*, 1967*, 1977*, 1983, 1990*, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011
Liverpool	15 (10/5)	1964*, 1965*, 1966, 1974, 1976, 1977*, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1986*, 1988, 1989, 1990*, 2001, 2006
Arsenal	12 (11/1)	1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1938, 1948, 1953, 1991*, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004
Everton	9 (8/1)	1928, 1932, 1963, 1970, 1984, 1985, 1986*, 1987, 1995
Tottenham Hotspur	7 (4/3)	1921, 1951, 1961, 1962, 1967*, 1981*, 1991*
Chelsea	4	1955, 2000, 2005, 2009
Wolverhampton Wanderers	4 (1/3)	1949*, 1954*, 1959, 1960*
Manchester City	3	1937, 1968, 1972
Leeds United	2	1969, 1992
Burnley	2 (1/1)	1960*, 1973
West Bromwich Albion	2 (1/1)	1920, 1954*
Blackburn Rovers	1	1912
Bolton Wanderers	1	1958
Brighton & Hove Albion	1	1910
Cardiff City	1	1927
Derby County	1	1975
Huddersfield Town	1	1922
Leicester City	1	1971
Newcastle United	1	1909
Nottingham Forest	1	1978
Sheffield Wednesday	1	1935
Sunderland	1	1936
Aston Villa	1 (0/1)	1981*
Portsmouth	1 (0/1)	1949*
West Ham United	1 (0/1)	1964*

References

1. ^ "Where The Money Goes". TheFA.com. http://thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompetitions/TheFACommunityShield/FACommunityShieldPages/WhereTheMoneyGoes. Retrieved 2011-02-04. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} "The Shield - A brief history". The FA Cup & Competitions. The FA. http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompetitions/TheFACommunityShield/History.aspx. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
3. ^ "4. THE CORINTHIAN ERA :: ISFA". www.isfa.org.uk. http://www.isfa.org.uk/about/news.php?go=fullnews&id=33. Retrieved 22 May 2008. 
4. ^ "The Football Association Charity Shield". www.the-english-football-archive.com. Archived from the original on 23 December 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071223153636/http://www.the-english-football-archive.com/domestic_competitions/charity_shield.htm. Retrieved 22 May 2008.  (Wayback machine)
5. ^ ^{a b} Jonathan Swindlehurst (9 August 2009). "Community Shield Preview - A brief history". A different league. http://www.adifferentleague.co.uk/default.aspx?Tab=1&page=6&article=161. Retrieved 23 November 2010. 
6. ^ "FA to rename Charity Shield". BBC Sport. 8 February 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/1809817.stm. Retrieved 2001-02-04. 
7. ^ Lawrenson, Mark (5 August 2007). "Lawro's Community Shield verdict". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/6932349.stm. Retrieved 19 October 2009. 
8. ^ Bryant, Tom (9 August 2009). "Chelsea v Manchester United - Community Shield as it happened". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/aug/09/chelsea-manchester-united. Retrieved 19 October 2009. 
9. ^ "Community Shield: Chelsea 2 Manchester United 2". Daily Record. 10 August 2009. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/england/2009/08/10/community-shield-chelsea-2-manchester-united-2-86908-21586330/. Retrieved 19 October 2009. 
10. ^ "Relaxed Manchester United to take on Portsmouth at Wembley". 9 August 2008. http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jPX7BZK3glaCaTldgAxzq9AoaDfw. Retrieved 10 August 2008. 
11. ^ "History of the Charity Shield". BBC. 9 August 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/1480702.stm. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
12. ^ Stone, Simon (16 February 2011). "Old Trafford in pole for 2012 Community Shield". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/old-trafford-in-pole-for-2012-community-shield-2215955.html. Retrieved 31 May 2011. 
13. ^ List of Charity/Community Shield matches at RSSSF

External links

• Official site at TheFA.com