FA Community Shield facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
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	Arsenal (17th title)
Most successful club(s)	Manchester United (21 titles)
Television broadcasters	ITV Sport BBC (highlights only) List of International broadcasters

The FA Community Shield (once called the Charity Shield) is a yearly football match in England. It happens at Wembley Stadium. The game is played between the team that won the Premier League last season and the team that won the FA Cup. If one team wins both the Premier League and the FA Cup, then the team that came second in the Premier League plays instead. Both The Football Association (FA) and UEFA see this match as a real competition.

The FA organizes this game. Money made from the match, like ticket sales, goes to help different community projects and charities across the country. Part of the money goes to the 124 clubs that played in the FA Cup. They then give this money to charities they choose. The rest of the money goes to the FA's main charity partners. The first match was played in 1908–09. It took the place of an older competition called the Sheriff of London Charity Shield.

The team that holds the trophy right now is Arsenal. They were the Premier League runners-up in 2022–23. They beat Manchester City (who won both the Premier League and FA Cup in 2022–23) 4–1 on penalties. This happened after the game ended 1–1 in the 2023 match.

History of the Community Shield

The Community Shield grew out of the Sheriff of London Charity Shield. That older competition started in 1898. It was a game between professional players and amateur players. The FA Charity Shield, as it was first known, was created to replace it. This happened after the amateur clubs had disagreements with the FA.

The new plan was for the champions of the Football League First Division to play against the champions of the Southern Football League. The very first match was in 1908. It was between Manchester United (First Division champions) and Queens Park Rangers (Southern League champions). The game was a 1–1 draw. So, they played again, and Manchester United won 4–0. This was the only time a Charity Shield game had a replay. Both games were played at Stamford Bridge.

The way the competition was played changed a lot over the years. In 1913, it was between teams of Amateurs and Professionals. In 1921, the Shield was played between the Football League winners and FA Cup winners for the first time. This format kept changing in the 1920s.

In 1930, the match went back to being played by the winners of the Football League and the FA Cup. This format has mostly stayed the same ever since. There were a few special games. For example, in 1950, the England World Cup team played against an FA team. In 1961, Tottenham Hotspur had won both the League and the FA Cup (called "the Double"). So, they played against a team picked by the Football Association.

The game was moved to the start of the season from 1959 onwards. Sometimes, a team won both the FA Cup and the League. This made it tricky to decide who should play in the Shield. In 1971, Arsenal won "the Double." But they already had other games planned. So, Leicester City (who were Division Two champions) were asked to play instead. They played against Liverpool, who were the FA Cup runners-up. Leicester City won the trophy, even though they had never won the League or FA Cup before!

In 1972, the league champions Derby County and FA Cup winners Leeds United both said no to playing. So, Manchester City (who finished fourth in the First Division) and Aston Villa (Third Division champions) were invited. Manchester City won 1–0. The next year, in 1973, Manchester City played again but lost to Burnley.

In 1974, Ted Croker, who worked for the FA, created the way the match is played now. It is always at Wembley Stadium. It is played between the current League champions and FA Cup winners.

Between 1949 and 1991, the Shield was shared 11 times if the game ended in a draw. This meant each team held the trophy for six months. But in 1993, penalty shootouts were brought back to decide drawn games.

When the new top league, the Premier League, started, the Shield became a match between the Premier League winners and FA Cup winners. This has been the case since the 1993 competition.

In 2002, the Charity Commission found that the FA had not followed all the rules about charity money. They hadn't clearly said how much money from tickets went to charity. Also, they were slow in paying the charities. Because of this, the competition was renamed the Community Shield. Arsenal was the first team to win the renamed Community Shield. They beat Liverpool 1–0.

In 2016, the original 1908 Charity Shield trophy was fixed up. It was then sold at an auction. It raised £40,000 for the Bobby Moore Fund, which helps with cancer research.

Rules of the Game

The rules for the Community Shield are mostly like those for the Premier League. Each team starts with 11 players. They can have 7 players on the bench, but they are allowed to make up to six substitutions during the game. In most other competitions, only five substitutions are allowed.

If the score is tied after 90 minutes, the teams go straight to a penalty shootout. There is no extra time.

If a team wins both the Premier League and the FA Cup (this is called "the Double"), then the team that came second in the Premier League plays in the Community Shield.

Is it a Real Trophy?

The Community Shield is seen as the "curtain-raiser" for the new English football season. It is the first official game and trophy of the year.

However, some teams and managers treat it differently. Some see it like a friendly game before the season starts. They might use it to give players who haven't played much, or those coming back from injury, some game time. For example, football expert Mark Lawrenson called it a "glorified friendly." Sir Alex Ferguson, a famous manager, once said it's a "prestigious match" but also a "barometer for fitness."

But others think it's a very important trophy. Before the 2016 FA Community Shield, Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri asked, "Why do you say this question, a friendly? When is the Community Shield a friendly?" He said both teams would try their best to win. Later, Chelsea manager Antonio Conte said, "It is not a friendly game. It is an official game and there is a trophy so for us it must be important." In 2018, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola called it "the first final" of the season. And before the 2023 match, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said, "When there is a trophy on the table, you want to win."

Amazing Records

• The teams with the most wins are Manchester United (21 wins, including 4 shared), Arsenal (17 wins, including 1 shared), Liverpool (16 wins, including 5 shared), and Everton (9 wins, including 1 shared).
• Chelsea (2010, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018) and Newcastle United (1932, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1996) have played the most times without winning or sharing the trophy.
• The game with the most goals was Manchester United's 8–4 win against Swindon Town in 1911.
• Everton won the Shield four times in a row from 1984 to 1987. However, the 1986 win was shared with Liverpool.
• Manchester United lost four times in a row from 1998 to 2001.
• Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Pat Jennings scored a goal from his own penalty area against Manchester United in the 1967 Charity Shield. That game ended in a 3–3 draw.
• Brighton & Hove Albion is the only club to have won just the Shield (in 1910), and never the FA Cup or the League. This win was Brighton's only national trophy.

Where the Games Are Played

The stadiums written in italics in this list no longer exist.

Main Stadiums for the Shield

Since 1974, the Community Shield has mostly been played at a few main stadiums, instead of moving around.

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

Other Stadiums that Hosted Games

At first, the game was played at different stadiums. Sometimes it was at a neutral ground, or at the home stadium of one of the teams playing. In total, 18 other stadiums have hosted the game. The first stadium to host the game was Stamford Bridge in 1908. The most recent guest stadium was the King Power Stadium in 2022. This happened because Wembley was hosting the final of the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 the next day.

Seven stadiums have hosted the game just once: St James' Park (1932), Roker Park (1936), Burnden Park (1958), Turf Moor (1960), Portman Road (1962), Anfield (1964), and Elland Road (1969). Leicester City has hosted the game twice, at Filbert Street in 1971 and the King Power Stadium in 2022.

Who Has Won?

Winners by Year

Winners by Club

The trophy

Other Winners

See also

In Spanish: Community Shield para niños