In the Community Shield in Cardiff last weekend Arsenal beat Manchester City convincingly, a 3-0 victory that made the champions look clear favourites for the coming season, but does that necessarily mean they’ll win the league? How important is the curtain-raiser to the English domestic season?
The Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is the traditional opening game of the English season. It pits the previous season’s league champions against the winners of the FA Cup. Most often the match is played at Wembley, but there have been periods where it is played elsewhere, like Cardiff this season because of a concert at Wembley or for the years when the new Wembley was being built, or the season it was played at Leicester City’s stadium because of the Women’s European Championship Final at Wembley the same weekend (we’re not sure why it wasn’t played at a larger stadium).
The Community Shield is an odd fixture all-round. If you’re in it and win it, it’s a good feeling, a great way to start the season. It's a better way to play a half-competitive fixture before the real fun starts a week later, as opposed to a full-on friendly with 11 substitutions made at half time for each side. A day out in the sun for fans and a way for managers to try out new signings, new tactics, and to get the final preparations in for the season ahead. If you don’t win it, it doesn’t really matter, and if you’re not in it at all, you might not even know it’s on or watch it on television.
Some managers and players count the Community Shield as a proper trophy as part of their overall numbers (we’re looking at you Pep and Jose) but it does seem to be a very British thing to not really count it as a trophy when recounting tales of victories in the past.
Now to the record books.
In the Premier League era only 8 winners of the Community Shield have gone on to win the league that season.
This might not be too surprising if you consider how many times the Community Shield has been played between the league champions and the runners-up from the previous season, or that the FA Cup winners usually come from the pool of the biggest clubs in the country with the best squads. Matches between the elite are often tight affairs that could go either way. It is still quite strange though to consider how infrequent it is that the winner goes on to become Champions that season.
Of course, in some cases, the underdog has done well to get there in the first place and have taken up the challenge in a way that the elite players who are used to playing at Wembley for trophies might become a bit blasé about. Just think of how amazing it was for Crystal Palace as a club, playing staff, and fanbase to be at Wembley after winning the FA Cup, the first trophy in its existence, just a few short months before. It wasn’t surprising that Palace went on to beat the Champions, Liverpool, at Wembley. Similarly, Leicester City during the purple patch of success between 2016 and 2021, were up for it when beating Manchester City at a time when City’s fans were starting to become a bit ‘bored’ of travelling down South to Wembley a couple of times a season at least.
What does it mean for this coming league season? Arsenal are deserved champions and rightly favourites for this season. Arteta’s men came close for a few years but finally broke the duck in May, winning the league and losing on penalties in the Champions League final against PSG. They have the deepest squad in the league, the longest-serving manager, a strength right throughout the team. It’s not just a strong spine; it’s a strong 11. Bruno Guimarães is an excellent addition in midfield, and even though they missed out on Vini Jr (was that ever realistic to anyone other than the AFTV boys who think Arsenal are the best club the world has ever seen?) it’s hard to see any other team beating them to the title this year. Manchester City go into the year without Pep Guardiola for the first time in ten years, Liverpool are in flux with a new manager, Aston Villa are still a selling club, Michael Carrick has done well at Manchester United but will now face a game every few days instead of once a week, and Chelsea are an unknown entity with Xabi Alonso and a new approach to transfers.
Who will challenge Arsenal?
It’s all there for the Community Shield curse to be broken and for Arsenal to win that and go on to win the league this season.
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