Why FA changed the name of the Community Shield after 94 years

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal will face last season’s FA Cup winners Manchester City in this afternoon’s Community Shield final, but why did the FA change the event’s name after 94 years?

The Gunners finally got over the hump in last season’s Premier League title race, edging Pep Guardiola’s men at the third time of asking.

Arsenal finished second to the Cityzens in 2022-23 and 2023-24, then fell to Liverpool in 2024-25, but Arteta’s men were not to be denied in their fourth successive title race.

Manchester City booked their place by beating Chelsea in the FA Cup final, achieving a domestic double after beating the Gunners in the Carabao Cup earlier last season.

The event was first introduced in 1908 as a way to raise funds for charity, initially named the Charity Shield, and has since prefaced the start of the English top-flight season in a battle of victors.

Arsenal have won the Shield a whopping 17 times, the most of any club in the event’s history, with their most recent victory arriving in 2023, also against Manchester City.

The Cityzens have now featured in five of the last six events, losing also to Leicester in 2021, Liverpool in 2022, then beating their Manchester rivals in 2024.

Why did the FA change the name of the Community Shield after 94 years?

The event was renamed the Community Shield in 2002 after the FA were found to have not met the requirements of charity law.

That year, the Charity Commission ruled that the FA had failed to specify the amount of money that went to charities, paving the way for a name change.

The Commission found, though, that charities had received all the money - totalling 35 per cent of gate receipts - that they were supposed to have received.

Despite the event no longer being referred to as the Charity Shield, funds from the games are still allocated to various charities and community initiatives across the UK.

In 2002, an FA spokesperson said of the name change: "We want to ensure that good causes continue to receive financial support from football through the Community Shield."

Since 1974, the venue has continuously remained Wembley Stadium, despite the event’s inaugural match taking place at Stanford Bridge. However, that pattern has been broken for the 2026 event, which will be held at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.

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It typically features the Premier League champions of the previous season facing off against the FA Cup winners, however, as seen in recent editions, that isn’t always the case.

With Guardiola’s men frequently winning both in a single campaign, the opponent then becomes the runner-up from the English top-flight, meaning that Arsenal and Liverpool have become frequent competitors in the event.

The Community Shield is not considered to be a major trophy, and is even referred to by many as a glorified friendly; however, the teams involved often appear to disagree.

Should Arsenal win today, they will extend their lead as the competition’s most prolific champions with 18, while Manchester City will pick up their eighth Community Shield trophy if they prevail.

Previous Community Shield results (2020-2025)

2025: Crystal Palace 2-2 Liverpool (3-2 pen.)

2024: Manchester City 1-1 Manchester United (7-6 pen.)

2023: Arsenal 1-1 Manchester City (4-1 pen.)

2022: Liverpool 3-1 Manchester City

2021: Leicester 1-0 Manchester City

2020: Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool (5-4 pen.)