The FA Community Shield

The Community Shield is a one-off match contested by the previous season's Premier League winners and FA Cup holders. It is usually staged at Wembley Stadium in August and traditionally takes place on the weekend before the new Premier League season begins, although the venue and exact date can vary when Wembley is unavailable. If the same club has won both the Premier League and the FA Cup the previous season — the "double" — the Community Shield is normally played between that club and the Premier League runners-up instead.

The match has existed in different forms since 1908 and took on much of its modern identity in 1974, when it became a regular season-opening fixture between the league champions and FA Cup winners. The trophy is owned and organised by the Football Association, with revenue from the match supporting community football initiatives and charities — the source of the modern "Community Shield" name, adopted in 2002.

The Community Shield is played over 90 minutes plus stoppage time. If the score is level at full time, the match goes directly to a penalty shoot-out — there is no extra time. This reflects the match's role as a season opener rather than a full knockout tie. Multiple Community Shields have been decided on penalties, including the 2025 edition, when Crystal Palace beat Liverpool 3-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

The match gives managers more flexibility than most domestic fixtures. Teams have traditionally been allowed to use up to six substitutes, which makes it easier to share minutes among senior players and new signings before the league season begins. Even so, the match is not just an informal friendly: it is an official FA fixture with a trophy presentation, winners' medals and a large national audience.

The standard pairing is the Premier League winners against the FA Cup holders. The two clubs qualify by winning those competitions in the previous season, so there is no qualifying tournament or play-off. In most modern seasons, the match is scheduled for the weekend before the new Premier League campaign begins.

If the same club wins both the Premier League and the FA Cup, that club usually plays the Premier League runners-up. This rule keeps the match linked to the league and cup competitions that feed it. Older editions of the Shield did not always follow the modern pattern, with some years featuring representative sides, touring teams or alternative arrangements, so historical examples can look different from the current format.

Manchester United are the most successful club in the competition's history with 21 wins, including shared titles from years when the Shield was not decided by penalties. Arsenal are second with 17, followed by Liverpool with 16 and Everton with nine. Together, those four clubs account for more than 60 Shield titles across the competition's history.

The list of clubs to have won the Community Shield only once is wider than the list of recent league champions, partly because FA Cup winners also qualify. Crystal Palace's 2025 win was a recent example of a first-time Shield success: they qualified as FA Cup holders, drew 2-2 with Liverpool, and won the shoot-out 3-2.

The Community Shield occupies an unusual place in English football. It is an official FA match with a trophy, medals and a recognised place in the football calendar, but it is also played before the league season begins and is often approached with some of the flexibility of a pre-season fixture.

For that reason, supporters and pundits do not always treat it in the same way as the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup or major European competitions. A balanced way to describe it is as English football's traditional season-opening trophy rather than as one of the main honours that defines a club's season.

The Community Shield developed from earlier charity matches in English football, including the Sheriff of London Charity Shield. The FA Charity Shield began in 1908, with the first edition played between Football League champions Manchester United and Southern League champions Queens Park Rangers. United won the replay 4-0 after the first match finished 1-1 at Stamford Bridge.

The format varied across the following decades. Some editions matched the Football League champions against the FA Cup winners, while others involved amateur sides, professional sides, representative teams or special invitees. In 1974, FA secretary Ted Croker helped establish the modern idea of a regular season curtain-raiser, usually staged at Wembley between the league champions and FA Cup winners. The competition was renamed the Community Shield in 2002 after Charity Commission scrutiny of the way the competition's charitable funds had been handled.