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The Shield Community started life as the Charity Shield, which ran from 1908 until its name change in 2002. It came from the original Sheriff of London Charity Shield, which was played annually between a leading amateur club and professional club. Manchester United, who had just become Football League champions for the first time, beat Southern League champions Queens Park Rangers to win the first-ever Shield fixture. The match finished 1-1 with United winning 4-0 in a replay. It was the only time a Shield match has been replayed. Prior to 1974, it wasn’t considered a big deal. Then FA Secretary Ted Croker proposed the League champions and FA Cup holders should play each other as a curtainraiser to the new season. From then, it was played at Wembley until 2001 when it transferred to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. When the new stadium opened in 2007, it went back to Wembley. In 2012, it moved to Villa Park as Wembley was being used for the Olympics. The most successful club is Manchester United, who have won it 21 times. The current holders are Arsenal, who defeated Chelsea last year. It was the 15th time the Gunners have won it. The highestscoring match was in 1911 when Manchester United beat Swindon Town 8-4. In the following year, some of the profits were donated to the Lord Mayor of London’s Titanic disaster fund. In 1967, Tottenham goalkeeper Pat Jennings scored a goal from his own penalty area against Manchester United. Alex Stepney was the embarrassed keeper at the other end and the match finished 3-3. The first match played at Wembley saw Liverpool beat Leeds
6-5 on penalties after a
1-1 draw. Billy Bremner and Kevin Keegan were both sent off. In the 1980s and early 90s, the Shield would be shared in the event of a draw, with each side keeping it for six months. The penalty shoot-out was
brought back in 1993. Everton hold the record for most consecutive wins, from
1984 to
1987. Manchester United have the most consecutive losses, from
1998 to 2001. Aston Villa, Portsmouth and West Ham share bottom place for success, with just one shared title each. Brighton & Hove Albion are the only club to win just the Shield, never the FA Cup or League.