Links With The Past: 2021 Community Shield & Pennants
The FA Community Shield, known as the FA Charity Shield until 2002, dates from 1908. It evolved from the Sheriff of London Charity Shield, which was introduced in 1898.
Initially, the Charity Shield was competed for by the champions of the Football League and the winners of the Southern League.
Its format varied over subsequent years until the pattern of the Football League (now Premier League) winners playing the FA Cup winners, first tried in 1921, became established in the 1930s. There have been several exceptions to this pattern.
In 1961, League champions Tottenham Hotspur also won the FA Cup so their opponents in the 1961 Charity Shield were an FA XI.
In 1971 Leicester City as Second Division champions, played Bill Shankly’s beaten FA Cup finalists Liverpool because not only had Arsenal won the League and FA Cup double that year, they were also committed to pre-arranged pre-season tour.
Since 1974, the venue for the Charity or Community Shield fixture has been Wembley Stadium, apart from 2001 until 2006, when Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium was the venue and 2012 when Villa Park was the venue.
Leicester City have competed for the Community Shield three times and won it twice. They defeated Liverpool 1-0 in 1971 at Filbert Street, As Premier League champions they were beaten 2-1 at Wembley by FA Cup holders Manchester United in 2016.
As FA Cup holders, they defeated Premier League Champions Manchester City 1-0 at Wembley in 2021. Coincidently, all three matches were played on 7 August.
Illustrated above are the pennants exchanged between the teams before the 2021 contest, together with the Community Shield, photographed at King Power Stadium.