FA Community Shield

History

The Community Shield evolved from the Sheriff of London Charity Shield that had been introduced in 1898 as a professionals versus amateurs cup (the gentlemen and players tradition). 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. 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.

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, and so played a Football Association XI.

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 never 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. Despite finishing the season eleventh, City also contested the 1973 Charity Shield but lost 1-0 to Second Division champions Burnley.

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.

Four drawn games in the 1980s and early 1990s resulted in each team holding the trophy for 6 months, but in 1993 penalties were re-introduced to decide drawn games.

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 Charity Commission found that the Football Association failed to meet its legal obligations under charity law, by failing to specify what money from ticket sales went to charity, and delaying payments to the charities nominated. As a result, the competition was renamed the Community Shield. Arsenal were the first winners of the renamed Community Shield with a 1–0 victory over Liverpool.

In 2016, the FA's official silversmith Thomas Lyte restored and rebuilt the Football Association's original 1908 Charity Shield to mark 50 years since England Captain Bobby Moore and his teammates beat West Germany in the 1966 FIFA World Cup.

The trophy raised £40,000 at auction on 10 October 2016, in aid of the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK, which was set up by the footballer's widow Stephanie Moore to fund research into bowel cancer, after her husband lost his battle with the disease in 1993. The auction was held at The Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, where the England team celebrated the 1966 victory. The Bobby Moore Fund became the FA's new charity partner in July 2016.

Status

An official honour in the English game, the Community Shield is regarded to be the first competitive game of the new English football season. However, it has been considered by some to be a minor trophy and Community Shield games may not be as hotly contested as other trophy finals. The game has been described by some media sources, including Mark Lawrenson, as a "glorified friendly". 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". On the other hand, many media, clubs and players continue to recognise 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 Shield has particularly grown in stature in recent years, with some now seeing it as one of the most important fixtures of the entire English football calendar. While typically not regarded as such in Britain, super cups like the Community Shield are seen as "major" pieces of silverware in many foreign countries.

Records

Venues

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.

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 Villa Park in 2012, which was due to Wembley and the Millennium Stadium hosting the 2012 Olympics football tournament. Stadiums considered included St James' Park, and the Stadium of Light but Villa Park was chosen for the 2012 contest.

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.

By year