Which Premier League team won the most Community Shield Trophies


The Community Shield is played annually in the United Kingdom and is circled on the calendar by all Premier League supporters, but not necessarily for the reason that one might think. Not all the supporters of all the clubs will watch the match, but all supporters look towards this match as the pre-cursor to the start of the English Premier League. The match is played one week before the League kicks off, and that is the reason for the anticipation and excitement. However, the Community Shield is massively important to those clubs participating, as it will be their final pre-season match before the heavy lifting begins.

Which Premier League team has won the most Community Shields? Manchester United (17 outright victories, 4 shared), Arsenal (15 outright wins, 1 shared), Liverpool (10 outright wins, 5 shared), and Everton (8 outright wins, 1 shared) are the most successful teams in the tournament. 

We take an in-depth look at the history of the Community Sheild Winners and see if there is anyone who may be able to catch Manchester United at the top. 

Community Shield – History and Beneficiaries

The Football Association Community Shield (previously the Charity Shield) is an annual event played at Wembley Stadium between the Premier League champions of the previous season and the FA Cup holders. If the Premier League champions have also won the FA Cup, the league runners-up will play against them. The Football Association and UEFA both recognize the match as a competitive super cup.

The proceeds from the FA-organized game are given to local community initiatives and organizations across the United Kingdom. Gate receipts and match program sales money is given to the 124 teams who competed in the FA Cup from the first round onwards for contribution to charities and projects of their choosing, with the remainder going to the FA’s national charity partners.

The Community Shield originated from the Sheriff of London Charity Shield, which was first held in 1898 as a professional vs amateurs cup (the gentlemen and players tradition). The Football Association Charity Shield, as it was called at the time, was created to replace the Sheriff of London Charity Shield, which had been discontinued due to a disagreement between the FA and the major amateur teams. 

The new structure called for the Football League Inaugural Division champions to face the Southern League champions, with the first game taking place in 1908 between Manchester United (the First Division champions) and Queens Park Rangers (the Southern League champions). The game finished at one apiece, and the replay was won 4–0 by Manchester United. This is the only Charity Shield game to go to a replay and both matches were held at Stamford Bridge. A rule was then put in place thereafter that if the match was drawn, the trophy would be shared.

The tournament structure changed throughout time: in 1913, the Shield was fought between Amateurs and Professionals XIs, while for the first time in 1921, the Shield was contested between Football League and FA Cup winners, and notwithstanding a few exceptions, it has stayed in use until the current day. 

From 1959 onwards, the game was moved to a week before the beginning of the new Premier League season. The issue of which two clubs should compete for the Shield if one side won both the FA Cup and the League remained unanswered. 

In 1971, Arsenal won the Double for the second time since the Shield’s inception but was unable to fulfill the obligation of this fixture de to already scheduled pre-season friendlies. Leicester City, the Division Two champions, were asked to face FA Cup runners-up Liverpool instead and went on to win the trophy despite having never won the League (until 2016) or the FA Cup (until 2021).

In 1972, Derby County and FA Cup winners Leeds United both refused to compete in the Charity Shield for various reasons. It was therefore left to Manchester City, who finished fourth in the First Division, and Third Division champions Aston Villa to compete for the trophy which Manchester City won 1–0. 

Originally, the game was played at different neutral sites or the home field of one of the contending clubs and there have been seventeen host grounds in all. The first venue to host the match was Stamford Bridge in 1908, and the last venue to do so was Villa Park in 2012, owing to Wembley and the Millennium Stadium hosting the 2012 Olympics football competition. 

Ted Croker – Football Association Secretary

Ted Croker, the then-FA secretary, devised the present structure in 1974, with the match held at Wembley Stadium and contested by the reigning League and FA Cup champions. With the establishment of a new top division, the FA Premier League, the Shield became a showcase match between Premier League and FA Cup winners beginning with the 1993 tournament.

In 2002, The Charity Commission determined that the Football Association had failed to fulfill its legal responsibilities under charity law by failing to indicate how much money from ticket sales went to charity as well as delaying payments to the organizations selected. As a consequence, the Charity Shield was renamed the Community Shield with the name having stood the test of time across decades. With a 1–0 victory against Liverpool, Arsenal became the first champions of the renamed Community Shield.

The Community Shield and its importance

In recent years there have been differing opinions on the importance of the Community Shield. Participating clubs have regarded it with different degrees of seriousness, with some treating it similarly to pre-season friendly — as a chance to provide match experience to periphery players of their squads or those recovering from injury. 

Other clubs maintain the match’s validity as the first official game and trophy of the domestic season. Previous Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri and former Chelsea manager reaffirmed the cup’s importance by stating they would be playing their full-strength side to win the Cup. Similarly, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola referred to his team’s match against Chelsea in the tournament as “the first final” of the season in 2018.

Despite the differing opinions of managers, the Community Shield is important to all supporters of all clubs as it signifies the beginning of the new Premier League season. Despite the match only being contested between the previous seasons League winners and the reigning FA Cup champions, the match is circled on the calendar by all football-loving supporters, and as such Manchester United will continue to set the trend in this competition with their twenty-one trophies. 

Louis

Life long Portsmouth Fan and have followed football since 1993. Is there a better sport on earth?

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