Today will see and Liverpool face-off in the Community Shield ahead of the new Premier League season getting underway next week.
The Community Shield is a charity event that usually sees the winner of the Premier League and the compete against each other.
Manchester City’s domestic treble means that instead they will face Liverpool, who finished second in the the league, losing out by just one point.
It isn’t considered to be among as highly competitive as other finals, but the match helps raise money for various charities and support lower league clubs.
What do the Community Shield winners get?
The main prize for the winners of the Community Shield is the trophy.
On top of getting the trophy, it is also a good way to gain momentum ahead of the new season by getting the first big win.
The final usually takes places the weekend before the Premier League gets underway, which means that the victory can come at a good time to boost team morale.
It doesn’t always mean a good season for the winners though, as Manchester City became the first team in eight years to win the Community Shield and then go on to win the Premier League in the following season.
Winning the match doesn’t include any progression to other tournaments and the prize money for the two clubs isn’t as higher as other tournaments, with the main focus being on raising money for charities and other football teams.
The funds are raised mostly through ticket and match programme sales, as well as through sponsorship’s and TV deals.
The money is then given to teams in the lower leagues of British football, as well as to various charities, with each team competing in the first round of the FA Cup receiving £5,000 to go towards projects in their communities.
Community Shield winners
Man City are certainly no strangers to the Shield.
In the last five years, they’ve won it twice and made it to the finals four times (including today’s match).
The winners over the last few years are:
- 2017 – Arsenal (beat Chelsea)
- 2018 – Manchester City (beat Chelsea)
- 2019 – Manchester City (beat Liverpool)
- 2020 – Arsenal (beat Liverpool)
- 2021 – Leicester City (beat Manchester City)
Manchester United have the most victories in the Community Shield, winning 21 of the 30 finals that they have taken part in.
This is followed by Arsenal and Liverpool, who have both had 15 victories.
