Formerly known as the ‘Charity Shield’, the Community Shield is a game that usually takes place annually before the opening weekend of the Premier League season. Contested between the winners of the league itself and the FA Cup, it was first played in 1908 and is organised by the Football Association (FA), with the proceeds from the game distributed to charitable organisations around England. This game is commonly viewed as the start of the season when it comes to football betting as the first major game of the new campaign, it is highly anticipated every year but when it comes down to calculating major trophies, controversy appears in discussions regarding this major event. Considering what teams need to achieve to make it to the event, it should be regarded as one of the biggest trophies in English football. However, as it's just one game at the start of the season, it's viewed as a betting highlight and a friendly rather than a credible tournament.
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2026 Community Shield Betting
The 2026 FA Community Shield will be the 104th trophy in its history. However, for the first time since 2022, the competition will be hosted away from Wembley Stadium and will take place at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. Last season, Crystal Palace won the Community Shield but will not take part in the 2026 competition after failing to win either the Premier League or FA Cup last season. The reason this year's competition has been moved is that Wembley Stadium is unavailable on the scheduled weekend due to pre-planned concerts. The 2026 rendition of the tournament sees Arsenal take on Manchester City in a game that defines the strength the two teams have shown in English football in recent years. Arsenal qualified by winning the Premier League, while Manchester City qualified by winning the FA Cup.
Community Shield Betting Markets
Similar to most football betting events, you can find a wide range of betting markets for the Community Shield, these bets are split up into outright and match bets. Outright bets take the full game into consideration, so these games will more than likely include the winner of the match and the team who will collect the trophy at the end of the game. Meanwhile, match betting odds are closer to the betting surrounding what goes on during the game, for example, if you're betting on individual players to score goals, cards to be handed out and more, this would be a match bet rather than an outright bet.
Previous Community Shield Winners
| Year | Match Teams | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Crystal Palace vs Liverpool | Crystal Palace (via penalties) |
| 2024 | Manchester City vs Manchester United | Manchester City (via penalties) |
| 2023 | Arsenal vs Manchester City | Arsenal (via penalties) |
| 2022 | Liverpool vs Manchester City | Liverpool |
| 2021 | Leicester City vs Manchester City | Leicester City |
| 2020 | Arsenal vs Liverpool | Arsenal (via penalties) |
| 2019 | Manchester City vs Liverpool | Manchester City (via penalties) |
| 2018 | Manchester City vs Chelsea | Manchester City |
| 2017 | Arsenal vs Chelsea | Arsenal (via penalties) |
| 2016 | Manchester United vs Leicester City | Manchester United |
| 2015 | Arsenal vs Chelsea | Arsenal |
| 2014 | Arsenal vs Manchester City | Arsenal |
| 2013 | Manchester United vs Wigan Athletic | Manchester United |
| 2012 | Manchester City vs Chelsea | Manchester City |
| 2011 | Manchester United vs Manchester City | Manchester United |
Community Shield FAQs
Q. What channel is the Community Shield on?
A. TNT Sports holds the UK broadcast rights for the 2026 Community Shield, meaning that the game will be viewable live on TNT Sports 1 and HBO Max.
Q. What is the Community Shield?
A. The original ideology of the Community Shield is that it would define the best team in England of that year, the winner of the National Cup (now known as the FA Cup) would face the winner of the First Division (now known as the Premier League) to determine the best team of that year. In the modern day, the meaning behind the competition has slightly changed with very few voyeurs believing that.
Q. Who played in the Community Shield?
A. In 2026, the two teams that will play in the Community Shield are Arsenal and Manchester City.
Q. Who has won the Community Shield the most?
A. Manchester United have won the most Community Shields with 21 victories in 31 appearances, this is four more than the second highest-ranking team Arsenal with 17.
| Team | Number of Wins | Last Win |
|---|---|---|
| Manchester United | 21 | 2016 |
| Arsenal | 17 | 2023 |
| Liverpool | 16 | 2022 |
| Everton | 9 | 1995 |
| Manchester City | 7 | 2024 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 7 | 1991 |
| Chelsea | 4 | 2009 |
| English Professionals XI | 4 | 1929 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 4 | 1960 |
Q. Which team has the best record in the Community Shield?
A. Everton are the team that have the best record when it comes down to the Community Shield. Out of all teams that have participated in more than two tournaments they have a 81% win rate with 9 wins in 11 matches. Brighton & Hove Albion, Huddersfield Town, Cardiff City, Bolton Wanderers, Derby County and Crystal Palace are the teams that have won their only Community Shield match and have a 100% win rate.
Q. Which team has the worst record in the Community Shield?
A. Newcastle United have the worst success rate in the Community Shield, since winning their first match in 1909, which was only the second rendition of the tournament, they have lost five in a row, giving them a success rate of 16.66%. QPR and Ipswich Town are the two teams who have participated in the Community Shield twice and lost on both occasions. Newcastle's 5 defeats in a row was the worst run in the history of the competition before Chelsea's 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in 2018, which is their 5th defeat in a row. As Chelsea won their 2009 fixture on penalties, it is technically eight Community Shield matches since they won a game.
