TheFootball Association Community Shield (formerly theCharity Shield) isEnglish football's annual match contested atWembley Stadium between the champions of the previousPremier League season and the holders of theFA Cup. If the Premier League champions also won the FA Cup, then the league runners-up provide the opposition. The fixture is recognised as a competitivesuper cup bythe Football Association^[1][2][3] andUEFA.^[4][5][6]

FA Community Shield

Organising body	The Football Association
Founded	1908; 117 years ago (1908)
Region	England
Number of teams	2
Related competitions	Sheriff of London Charity Shield (predecessor) FA Cup (qualifier) Premier League (qualifier)
Current champions	Manchester City (7th title)
Most successful club(s)	Manchester United (21 titles)
Television broadcasters	ITV Sport BBC Sport (highlights only)
Website	thefa.com/communityshield
2024 FA Community Shield

Organised by the FA, proceeds from the game are distributed to community 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.^[7] The fixture was first played in the1908–09 season, replacing theSheriff of London Charity Shield.

The current holders are2023–24 Premier League championsManchester City, who beat2023–24 FA Cup winnersManchester United 7–6 on penalties after a 1–1 draw in the2024 fixture.

The Community Shield evolved from theSheriff of London Charity Shield, which was introduced in1898^[8] as aprofessionals vsamateurs cup (the gentlemen and players tradition).^[9] 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.^[10] The new format was to have theFootball League First Division champions play theSouthern League champions, and the first match was in1908 betweenManchester United (the First Division champions) andQueens 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 atStamford Bridge.^[8]

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 vs Professionals, including one year (1927) where the Professionals were represented by the FA Cup holdersCardiff City and the Amateurs bythe Corinthians, echoing the format of the trophy's predecessor, the Sheriff of London Charity Shield.

In 1930, the match returned to being contested by the winners of the Football League and the FA Cup, and with a few exceptions, that format has remained to the present day. Notable exceptions include the1950 Shield, which involved theEnglandWorld Cup team against an FA team that had touredCanada that summer,^[8] and the1961 Shield, when Tottenham Hotspur became the first team of the 20th century to winthe Double, and so played a Football Association XI.^[11]

The game was moved to the start of the season from 1959 onwards.^[11] 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-upLiverpool instead and went on to win the trophy, despite at the time having never won either the League or the FA Cup.^[12]

In 1972, league championsDerby County and FA Cup winnersLeeds United both declined to take part in the Charity Shield, soManchester City, who had finished in fourth in the First Division, and Third Division championsAston Villa were invited to take part; Manchester City won 1–0. After league champions Liverpool and FA Cup winners Sunderland declined to play, despite finishing the season 11th in the league City also contested the1973 Charity Shield but lost 1–0 to Second Division champions Burnley.^[13]

In 1974, the thenFA secretary,Ted Croker, created the current format with the match being played atWembley Stadium, and being contested by the reigning League and FA Cup holders.^[8]

Between 1949 and 1991, the Shield wasshared on 11 occasions, after the matches ended in a draw.^[14] Four drawn games in the 1980s and early 1990s resulted in each team holding the trophy for six months, but in 1993 penalties were re-introduced to decide drawn games.^[8]

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 the1993 competition onwards.

In 2002, theCharity Commission found that the Football Association had failed to meet its legal obligations undercharity law, by failing to specify what money from ticket sales went to charity, and delaying payments to the charities nominated.^[15] As a result, the competition was renamed the Community Shield.^[16] Arsenal were the first winners of the renamed Community Shield with a 1–0 victory over Liverpool.^[17]

In 2016, the FA's official silversmithThomas Lyte restored and rebuilt the Football Association's original 1908 Charity Shield to mark 50 years sinceEngland beat West Germany in the1966 FIFA World Cup.^[18] The trophy was sold at auction, raising £40,000 for the Bobby Moore Fund forCancer Research UK. The Bobby Moore Fund became the FA's charity partner in July 2016.^[19] The auction was held at TheRoyal Garden Hotel inKensington, where the England team celebrated the 1966 victory.

The rules of the Community Shield are generally the same as those of thePremier 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.^[20] If a team wins both the Premier League and theFA Cup, the runners-up from the Premier League will be the opposition.^[21]

Serving as England'ssuper cup between the previous season'sPremier League champions andFA Cup winners, the Community Shield is regarded as the "curtain-raiser" and is the first competitive game of each top-flight English football season.^[22][23][24] However, it has been treated with varying degrees of seriousness by participating teams, with some using it similarly tofriendlies 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 punditMark Lawrenson andThe Guardian writer Tom Bryant both described the match as a "glorified friendly".^[25][26] Prior to the2008 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".^[27][28]

Others, however, continue to recognise the status of the match as the first official game and trophy of the domestic season.^[29][30][31] Ahead of the2016 FA Community Shield against Manchester United, Leicester City managerClaudio 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."^[23] The following year,Chelsea managerAntonio 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 withArsenal.^[32] Likewise in 2018,Manchester City managerPep Guardiola referred to his side's clash with Chelsea in the competition as "the first final" of the season.^[33]

• The most successful teams in the competition areManchester United (17 outright wins, 4 shared),Arsenal (16 outright wins, 1 shared),Liverpool (11 outright wins, 5 shared) andEverton (8 outright wins, 1 shared).
• Chelsea (2010, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2018) andNewcastle 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 againstSwindon Town in1911.^[8]
• Everton hold the record for most consecutive wins (4) from 1984 to 1987; however, the 1986 'win' was shared withLiverpool.Manchester United hold the record for most consecutive losses (4) from 1998 to 2001. During this periodManchester United also held the record for most consecutive games played (6) from 1996 to 2001 in which they won 2.
• Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeperPat Jennings scored against Manchester United from his own penalty area in the1967 Charity Shield, which was shared at 3–3.^[8]
• Brighton & Hove Albion are the only club^[D] to win just the Shield (in1910), 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'.^[34]

For purposes of clarity, venues mentioned initalics in this section no longer exist.

Since 1974, the Community Shield has been at a permanent home rather than guest venues.^[35]

• Old Wembley Stadium: 1974–2000
• Millennium Stadium: 2001–2006
• New Wembley Stadium: 2007–2011, 2013–2021, 2023–present

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 wasStamford Bridge in 1908 and the last ground that guest hosted the fixture was theKing Power Stadium in 2022,^{[vn 2]} which was due to Wembley hosting the final ofUEFA Women's Euro 2022 on the following day.^[36]

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 andElland Road in 1969.Leicester City have hosted the fixture twice, atFilbert Street in 1971 and theKing Power Stadium in 2022. A further nine grounds have hosted the fixture on multiple occasions (see table).

^[37]

Notes

• Official website