FA Community Shield

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The Community Shield evolved from the Sheriff of London Charity Shield, introduced in 1898, which was originally contested between teams of professionals and amateurs, reflecting the 'gentlemen and players' tradition. 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. 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. 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, after the Southern League was absorbed into the English football league system. 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, and the 1961 fixture where double-winning Tottenham Hotspur played a Football Association XI. The match has been held at the start of the season since 1959. 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. In 1972 and 1973, several clubs declined invitations, leading to irregular pairings such as Manchester City versus Aston Villa and Burnley. In 1974, FA secretary Ted Croker formalised the modern format of league champions versus FA Cup winners, hosted annually at Wembley Stadium. Between 1949 and 1991, eleven editions of the Shield were shared following drawn results, but since 1993, penalty shoot-outs have been used to determin

In Their Own Story

The match began with a period of silence for the Grenfell Tower fire victims before Chelsea took an early lead in the second half. Victor Moses scored in the 46th minute following a poor clearance by Granit Xhaka, controlling the ball with his chest and shooting past Petr Čech. Arsenal struggled to create clear chances as Chelsea dominated possession until a dramatic turning point in the 80th minute. A late challenge by Pedro on Mohamed Elneny resulted in a red card for the Chelsea attacker. From the resulting free-kick, substitute Sead Kolašinac scored on his competitive debut to equalise. With no further goals, the match went to penalties where Thibaut Courtois and Álvaro Morata missed their attempts, leaving Olivier Giroud to score the winning spot-kick.

Reader's Guide

The rules of the Community Shield are generally the same as those of the Premier League, with a team of 11 starting players and 9 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. If a team wins both the Premier League and the FA Cup, the runners-up from the Premier League will be the opposition. 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' and is the first competitive game of each top-flight English football season. However, it has been treated with varying degrees of seriousness by participating teams, with some using it similarly to friendlies in their pre-season schedule – as an opportunity to give match practice to fringe members of their squads or those returning from injury. BBC Sport pundit Mark Lawrenson and The Guardian writer Tom Bryant both described the match as a 'glorified friendly'. Prior to the 2008 FA Community Shield, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson summarised his opinion of the competition: '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'. Others, however, continue to recognise the status of the match as the first official game and trophy of the domestic season. Ahead of the 2016 FA Community Shield against Manchester United, Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri asked, 'Why do you say this question, a friendly? When is the Community Shield a friendly? Of course we will be at the maximum and Manchester United will be at their maximum. The two teams want to win. I am very excited.' The following year, Chelsea manager Antonio Conte affirmed the significance of the cup, stating 'It is not a friendly game. It is an official game and there is a trophy so for us it must be important' ahead of his side's clash with Arsenal. Likewise in 2018, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola referred to his side's clash with Chelsea in the competition as 'the first final' of the season. Before winning his first community shield, former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp said 'It would be nice

Did You Know?

• The most successful teams in the competition are Manchester United (17 outright wins, 4 shared), Arsenal (17 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.
• 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.