| Founded | 1898 |
|---|---|
| Abolished | 1907 (fundraising matches held 1931–32, 1934, 1964–66, 1983) |
| Region |  England Scotland |
| Teams | 2 |
| Last champions | Watford |
| Most championships | Corinthians (3 titles) |
TheSheriff of London Charity Shield, also known as theDewar Shield, was afootball competition played annually between the best amateur and best professional club in England, though Scottish amateur sideQueen's Park also took part in 1899.[1][2] The professional side was either theFootball League champion orFA Cup winner from the previous season while the amateurs were usually represented byCorinthians, a renowned amateur side of the time. Thefirst game was played on 19 March 1898, after being devised bySir Thomas Dewar and ratified by theFootball Association, whose presidentLord Kinnaird and former president SirFrancis Marindin sat on the Shield's committee.
Proceeds from the annual game were distributed to hospitals and charities. The game was the predecessor to theFA Charity Shield, today theFA Community Shield, which began in 1908 after theAmateur Football Association split from the Football Association.[3] After 1908 the trophy was revived on seven occasions in the twentieth century to raise funds for grassroots football causes.
In 1898 a shield was offered by SirThomas Dewar, theSheriff of London at the time, with the understanding that it would pit the best professional side and amateur side against each other with proceeds going to charity.[4] A high profile committee of Football Association and amateur football representatives, politicians and England players past and present was formed composed of Sir Thomas;Lord Kinnaird (President of the FA); SirReginald Hanson (Lord Mayor of London); SirFrancis Marindin (Former President of the FA); SirWilliam Bromley-Davenport (Member of Parliament and former England international footballer); ColonelHarry McCalmont (Member of Parliament),R. Cunliffe Gosling (former England captain), Dr. Kemp (a former player for the London-basedUnited Hospitals side),[5]N. L. Jackson (FA Honorary Secretary and Founder ofCorinthians),John Bentley (President of theFootball League), andCharles Wreford-Brown (former England captain and FA Council member).[4]
The competition lasted for nine years in its first incarnation, coming to an end in part due to the dominance of the professional sides, and also to a rift in theFootball Association that saw the creation of theAmateur Football Association.[6] Following the1907 edition, won byNewcastle United, the shield was replaced in 1908 by theFA Charity Shield which rather than the best amateur side pitted the Football League winner against the winners of theSouthern Football League and then later against the winner of theFA Cup.
The match was later resurrected in the 1930s over four years at the suggestion of Charles Wreford-Brown, a member of the original Shield committee, to raise funds for theNational Playing Fields Association.[7] The trophy was again competed for in the 1960s for three years with funds supportingCorinthian-Casuals, the successor to the original Corinthians side. The most recent match for the shield trophy was a one-off game played betweenWatford and Corinthian-Casuals in 1983, marking the centenary of Corinthians' original formation. Watford ran out as 6–1 winners.[7] All seven matches in the post-1907 era were London-only affairs.
The shield itself, commissioned by Dewar, was over six feet high and believed to be the largest trophy to be competed for in the history of football.[8] In the 1990s, the trophy was put up for auction by Corinthian-Casuals to finance all-weather training facilities; it sold for around £25,000 to a private owner.[9]
