The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is an annual match in English football contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the same team wins both the league and the FA Cup, the match is played against the Premier League runners-up. This competition is the equivalent of Super cup in other countries.
Organised by the FA, the match generates proceeds that are directed towards community initiatives and charitable causes across the country. Revenue from ticket sales and match programmes is distributed among the 124 clubs that took part in the FA Cup from the first round proper onwards, with each club nominating charities or projects to receive the funds. The remaining balance is allocated to the FA's national charity partners. First played in the 1908–09 season as a replacement for the Sheriff of London Charity Shield, the match has since become a regular fixture.
The current holders are 2024–25 FA Cup winners Crystal Palace, who defeated 2024–25 Premier League champions Liverpool in the 2025 fixture, winning 3–2 on penalties following a 2–2 draw.
History
The Community Shield evolved from the Sheriff of London Charity Shield, introduced in 1898, which was originally contested between teams of professionals and amateurs, reflecting the 'gentlemen and players' tradition. The Football Association Charity Shield, as it was then known, was created to replace the Sheriff of London Charity Shield after leading amateur clubs became estranged from the FA. The inaugural match in 1908 was played between Manchester United, the Football League First Division champions, and Queens Park Rangers, the Southern League champions. After a 1–1 draw in the first game, United won 4–0 in the replay, marking the only occasion the Shield required a second leg. Both matches were played at Stamford Bridge.
The match has been held at the start of the season since 1959. In 1972 and 1973, several clubs declined invitations, leading to irregular pairings such as Manchester City versus Aston Villa and Burnley. In 1974, FA secretary Ted Croker formalised the modern format of league champions versus FA Cup winners, hosted annually at Wembley Stadium. but since 1993, penalty shoot-outs have been used to determine a winner. This led to the competition being renamed the Community Shield. Arsenal won the first edition under the new name, defeating Liverpool 1–0.
Trophy
In 2016, the FA's official silverware supplier, Thomas Lyte, restored and rebuilt the original 1908 Shield to mark the 50th anniversary of England's 1966 FIFA World Cup triumph. The trophy was then auctioned for £40,000 to support the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK, which became the FA's official charity partner that year. The auction was held at The Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, the same venue where England had celebrated their 1966 victory.
In 2002, Thomas Lyte made the present day Community Shield, and restores it annually. They also designed and make the medals for both the winners and runners-up.
Rules
The rules of the Community Shield are generally the same as those of the Premier 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. If a team wins both the Premier League and the FA Cup, the runners-up from the Premier League will be the opposition.
Status
Serving as England's super cup between the previous season's Premier League champions and FA Cup winners, the Community Shield is regarded as the "curtain-raiser" and is the first competitive game of each top-flight English football season. However, it has been treated with varying degrees of seriousness by participating teams, with some using it similarly to friendlies 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 pundit Mark Lawrenson and The Guardian writer Tom Bryant both described the match as a "glorified friendly". Prior to the 2008 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".
Others, however, continue to recognise the status of 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." Likewise in 2018, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola referred to his side's clash with Chelsea in the competition as "the first final" of the season. Before winning his first community shield, former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp said "It would be nice if we could win it. It's the last domestic cup we haven't won."
Records
- The most successful teams in the competition are Manchester United (17 outright wins, 4 shared), Arsenal (16 outright wins, 1 shared), Liverpool (11 outright wins, 5 shared) and Everton (8 outright wins, 1 shared).
- Chelsea (2010, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2018) and Newcastle 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 against Swindon Town in 1911.
Venues
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right;width:42%"
|+Multiple guest and neutral hosts
|-
! Ground
! Hosts
! Years
|-
|Stamford Bridge, London||align=center|10||1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1923, 1927, 1930, 1950,||align=center|2||1971 (FS), 2022 (KP)
|}
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.
- Old Wembley Stadium: 1974–2000
- Principality Stadium (also known as the Millennium Stadium): 2001–2006, 2026
- New Wembley Stadium: 2007–2011, 2013–2021, 2023–2025
Neutral and guest host venues
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 was Stamford Bridge in 1908 and the last ground that guest hosted the fixture was the King Power Stadium in 2022, which was due to Wembley hosting the final of UEFA Women's Euro 2022 on the following day.
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 and Elland Road in 1969. Leicester City have hosted the fixture twice, at Filbert Street in 1971 and the King Power Stadium in 2022. A further nine grounds have hosted the fixture on multiple occasions (see table).
In 2026, the FA Community Shield will once again be played outside of Wembley - at Cardiff's Principality Stadium, due to Wembley Stadium being unavailable to host the traditional match.
Notes
Winners
By year
By number of wins (clubs)
thumb|The trophy
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Team
! Wins <br/> (outright wins/shared titles)
! Years (* title was shared)
|-
|Manchester United||21 (17/4)||1908, 1911, 1952, 1956, 1957, 1965*, 1967*, 1977*, 1983, 1990*, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016
|-
|Arsenal||17 (16/1)||1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1938, 1948, 1953, 1991*, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2020, 2023
|-
|Liverpool||16 (11/5)||1964*, 1965*, 1966, 1974, 1976, 1977*, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1986*, 1988, 1989, 1990*, 2001, 2006, 2022
|-
|Everton||9 (8/1)||1928, 1932, 1963, 1970, 1984, 1985, 1986*, 1987, 1995
|-
|Manchester City||7||1937, 1968, 1972, 2012, 2018, 2019, 2024
|-
|Tottenham Hotspur||7 (4/3)||1921, 1951, 1961, 1962, 1967*, 1981*, 1991*
|-
|Chelsea||4||1955, 2000, 2005, 2009
|-
|Wolverhampton Wanderers||4 (1/3)||1949*, 1954*, 1959, 1960*
|-
|Leeds United||2||1969, 1992
|-
|Leicester City||2||1971, 2021
|-
|West Bromwich Albion||2 (1/1)||1920, 1954*
|-
|Burnley||2 (1/1)||1960*, 1973
|-
|Newcastle United||1||1909
|-
|Brighton & Hove Albion||1||1910
|-
|Blackburn Rovers||1||1912
|-
|Huddersfield Town||1||1922
|-
|Cardiff City||1||1927
|-
|Sheffield Wednesday||1||1935
|-
|Sunderland||1||1936
|-
|Bolton Wanderers||1||1958
|-
|Derby County||1||1975
|-
|Nottingham Forest||1||1978
|-
|Crystal Palace||1||2025
|-
|Portsmouth||1 (0/1)||1949*
|-
|West Ham United||1 (0/1)||1964*
|-
|Aston Villa||1 (0/1)||1981*
|}
By number of wins (other)
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Team