The Charity Shield, as it was originally known, evolved out of the Sheriff of London Charity Shield, which was first played in 1898. The original idea was that the First Division Champions would take on the winners of the Southern League, with the first march being played in 1908. The format of the competition varied over the years, though the idea remained that it would raise money for charity. In 2002, the Charity Commission discovered that the Football Association had failed in its legal obligations to give money to charity, leading to a name change.
Rather than actually give money to charity, the FA decided to start calling it the Community Shield. Nowadays it sees the winner of the Premier League go up against the winner of the FA Cup, unless they are the same team in which case it is usually the team that came second in the Premier League that plays the winners of the top-flight. The fact that winning such competitions is the reason why a team gets to play in the tournament is the reason why Chelsea have played in it so many times over the years, winning it for the first time in 1955.
Season | Chelsea Result | Winner | Runner Up |
---|---|---|---|
2018-2019 | Runner Up | Manchester City | Chelsea |
2017-2018 | Runner Up | Arsenal | Chelsea |
2015-2016 | Runner Up | Arsenal | Chelsea |
2012-2013 | Runner Up | Manchester City | Chelsea |
2010-2011 | Runner Up | Manchester United | Chelsea |
2009-2010 | Winner | Chelsea | Manchester United |
2007-2008 | Runner Up | Manchester United | Chelsea |
2006-2007 | Runner Up | Liverpool | Chelsea |
2005-2006 | Winner | Chelsea | Arsenal |
2000-2001 | Winner | Chelsea | Manchester United |
1997-1998 | Runner Up | Manchester United | Chelsea |
1970-1971 | Runner Up | Everton | Chelsea |
1955-1956 | Winner | Chelsea | Newcastle United |
Chelsea Community Shield / Charity Shield Wins
2009-2010: Chelsea 2-2 Manchester United (4-1 pens)
Despite a quiet transfer window by Chelsea's standards in the summer of 2009, confidence was high at the Bridge with the club securing the services of Italian manager Carlo Ancelotti. Interim manager Guus Hiddink had led the side to FA Cup victory over Everton the previous season, and they would face reigning Premier League Champions Manchester United.
The Reds would be without Cristiano Ronaldo however, who had left that summer to join Real Madrid. It was another Portuguese winger in Nani who opened the scoring for United but Chelsea hit back in the second half with strikes from man of the match Ricardo Carvalho and Frank Lampard.
With time running out, an offside looking Wayne Rooney latched on a Ryan Giggs through ball to take the game into extra time. Carlo Ancelotti’s team put aside the disappointment of a stoppage-time equaliser to hit a perfect 4/4 in the resulting shootout with only one in reply from United to land the Community Shield for a fourth time.
2005-2006: Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea
Tensions between Chelsea and Arsenal had been simmering since Roman Abramovich's takeover and reached boiling point in January of 2005 when Arsenal's Ashley Cole met with José Mourinho and Chelsea Chief Exec Peter Kenyon in the infamous 'tapping up' episode.
That added plenty of spice to the 2005 Community Shield which saw Chelsea competing in the game for the first time as league champions for 50 years. Their opponents, Arsenal, were playing in their fourth successive Community shield at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium after winning the FA Cup against Manchester United.
It didn't take long for Cheslea to take the lead, a long ball forward by new signing Asier del Horno was expertly chested past Philippe Senderos by Didier Drogba before the Ivory Coast forward lashed the ball past Jens Lehmann with his left boot on 8 minutes.
A classic Drogba virtuoso strike made it 2-0 for the Blues in the second half, outmuscling Senderos before rounding Lehman, shielding the ball from Lauren and firing a shot past Kolo Touré into the back of the net. Cesc Fàbregas would get one back for the Gunners just six minutes later but it was Chelsea's and Mourinho's shield.
2000-2001: Chelsea 2-0 Manchester United
The first Charity Shield of the new Millennium was to be the last at the old Wembley Stadium and saw Gianluca Vialli’s Chelsea compete as FA Cup holders against a Manchester United side who had won the league the previous season by a margin of 18 points. Chelsea had beaten United 5-0 at Stamford Bridge during the previous campaign however, and were looking to get one over on the Red Devils once more.
New signing Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink started up front for the Blues with the Dutchman opening his account for Chelsea scoring past Fabien Barthez on 22 minutes with a shot which deflected off Jaap Stam. It was Hasselbaink who was again in the mix in the second half when catching the ankle of United captain Roy Keane. The foul went unpunished by referee Mike Riley which left the Irishman incensed.
Just four minutes later Keane saw red when going in with a raised boot on Gus Poyet. Chelsea had space to exploit now with Alex Ferguson's side chasing the game and right back Mario Melchiot took advantage in style, linking up with Gianfranco Zola and Mario Stanić before travelling with the ball to the edge of the box and firing a low shot through the legs of Stam past a diving Bartez. It remained 2-0 with Chelsea sealing their first Charity Shield in 45 years.
1955-1956: Chelsea 3-0 Newcastle United
Chelsea's first league title in 1954-55 brought about their first opportunity to take part in the Charity Shield. They would face FA Cup holders Newcastle United who had great run of FA Cup wins at the start of the decade, lifting the trophy three times five seasons. In 1955 they had a deadly attack spearheaded by Jackie Milburn and Len White.
Unlike the modern shield, the 1955 game was played on a Wednesday, part way into the start of the season. Another difference is that the match was played at the league winner's stadium, which in Chelsea's case meant home advantage at Stamford Bridge.
Captaining the Blues that day was legendary centre forward Roy Bentley, who had been top scorer for the club in each of the previous seven seasons. Chelsea went ahead when Alf McMichael put the ball into his own net and had one hand firmly on their first Charity Shield when Bentley added a second. Frank Blunstone scored a third to give Chelsea the win in emphatic style.
The Charity Shield win was a highlight of an otherwise disappointing season for the Blues. Roy Bentley would again be top scorer in what was his last season for the club. He finished as Chelsea's all-time leading goalscorer and remains joint fifth on that list to this day.
Chelsea Community Shield / Charity Shield Runners-Up Seasons
2018-2019: Chelsea 0-2 Manchester City
Chelsea made it to the Community Shield at the start of the 2018-2019 season thanks to the fact that the club had won the FA Cup the season before. They faced Pep Guardiola's all-conquering Manchester City, with Maurizio Sarri in charge of Chelsea for the first competitive match at Wembley.
Chelsea supporters fancied the club's chances, on account of the fact that the last time the club had won the trophy had been in 2009 when they had beaten another Manchester club in the form of Manchester United.
The season opener was refereed by Jon Moss, with Sergio Agüero giving City the lead in the 13th minute. The Argentina striker scored again just before the hour mark, giving City a 2-0 lead that turned out to be unassailable. City would go on to win the Premier League title again, whilst the Blues finished 3rd.
2017-2018: Arsenal 1-1 Chelsea (4-1 pens)
Having won the Premier League in the 2016-2017 campaign, Chelsea went up against FA Cup winners Arsenal. The Gunners, of course, had beaten Chelsea in the FA Cup to stop their London rivals from claiming a double, so many of the Stamford Bridge faithful were hoping for a bit of revenge.
The first-half didn't see a huge amount of action, with Antonio Conte's side looking for a lead but not getting one. They did eventually, with the opening coming at the start of the second-half thanks to Victor Moses' strike. If the Blues were hoping things would be comfortable from then on, they were to be disappointed.
Pedro was shown a red card due to a late challenge on Mohamed Elneny, resulting in the Gunners being given a free-kick. Sead Kolašinac scored from it on his debut, making the scores level and taking the game to a penalty shoot-out. Weirdly, Thibaut Courtois took Chelsea's second, which he missed, whilst a miss from Alvaro Morata handed Arsenal the win.
2015-2016: Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea
The 2015-2016 season opener was a match that pitted two London clubs against each other, with Chelsea, the Premier League champions, taking on the FA Cup winners in Arsenal. A little bit of extra spice was added to proceedings on account of the fact that Petr Čech was making his Arsenal debut.
Čech will always be considered a Chelsea legend thanks to what he helped the club to achieve during his time at Stamford Bridge, but it still hurt Chelsea supporters to see him lining up in the red of Arsenal. It was the Gunners that took the lead, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scoring past Thibaut Courtois.
That proved to be the only goal of the game, with Chelsea unable to get back into it in spite of their best attempts. Not only was it Arsenal's first against their London rivals in more than three years, it was also the first time that Arsene Wenger had beaten José Mourinho in 14 times of asking.
2012-2013: Chelsea 2-3 Manchester City
Having won the Premier League title in spectacular fashion at the end of the 2011-2012 season, Manchester City were keen to prove that it was more than just a flash in the pan when they took on FA Cup winners Chelsea in the curtain-opener, the Community Shield.
The match itself was a really exciting one, with Fernando Torres handing the Blues the lead on the 40th minute mark. Less than ten minutes into the second-half and Manchester City had hit back via Yaya Touré. City then took the lead through Carlos Tevez just before the hour mark.
A third for City came through Samir Nasri, which hurt Chelsea supporters on account of the French player's links to Arsenal. There was a glimmer of hope for the Blues when Ryan Bertrand made it 3-2 in the 80th minute, but City were able to hold on and win the Community Shield at Chelsea's expense.
2010-2011: Chelsea 1-3 Manchester United
It is fair to say that Chelsea were the dominant force heading into the 2010-2011 Community Shield. They were the defending champions of the trophy, having won it the season before, whilst Manchester United were essentially there by default as Chelsea had won both qualifying competitions.
The Community Shield obviously normally pits the top-flight title winners against the FA Cup winners, but because Chelsea had won both trophies Manchester United were invited to play them as Premier League runners-up. It was United that drew first blood, with Antonio Valencia scoring the opening goal.
Javier Hernández doubled the lead for the Red Devils, whilst Solomon Kalou made things interesting when he scored for Chelsea in the 83rd minute. Sadly for the Blues, though, United were able to tie things up when Dimitar Berbatov scored two minutes into added time at the end of the second-half.
2007-2008: Chelsea 1-1 Manchester United (0-3 pens)
After the arrival of Roman Abramovich to Stamford Bridge, Chelsea and Manchester United were the dominant forces in the English football. Manchester United had secured their place in the Community Shield thanks to their victory in the Premier League title, whilst Chelsea were there as FA Cup winners.
It was the Red Devils that opened the scoring, with Ryan Giggs finding the back of the net in the 35th minute. Chelsea under José Mourinho were not a side to give up too easily, however, and Florent Malouda scored an equaliser on the stroke of half-time in order to ensure that honours were even for the second period.
The relative strengths of the two clubs cancelled each other out, meaning that the game required a penalty shoot-out to separate the two teams. Sadly for Chelsea, things didn't go to plan. Claudio Pizarro missed his penalty, with Rio Ferdinand scoring his for United. Frank Lampard unusually missed his, as did Shaun Wright-Phillips, but Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney both scored theirs.
2006-2007: Liverpool 2-1 Chelsea
When Rafael Benitez's Liverpool knocked José Mourinho's Chelsea out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage in 2005, it began a modern day rivalry between the two clubs. Liverpool then went on the win that competition, following it up with an FA Cup win in 2006, whilst Chelsea won back-to-back Premier League titles.
That saw the two clubs come up against each other again, this time in the Community Shield at the start of the 2006-2007 season. Chelsea had won the competition the year before after beating London rivals Arsenal, so there was a feeling that they could retain the trophy and put Liverpool in their place.
The Merseyside club were something of a coming force under the Spaniard, however, taking the lead through John Arne Riise after just nine minutes. Andriy Schevchenko, who had lost to Liverpool in that 2005 Champions League final, drew Chelsea level, but a winning goal from Peter Crouch in the 80th minute saw the Merseysiders lift the trophy.
1997-1998: Chelsea 1-1 Manchester United (2-4 pens)
For a long time, the match between the winners of the English top-flight and the FA Cup was known as the Charity Shield. That stopped when the Football Association was told it would actually need to give money to charity in order for that to be the case, instead choosing to re-name it as the Community Shield.
It was still known by its original name back in 1997, however, when the Premier League winners, Manchester United, took on the FA Cup winners in Chelsea. Mark Hughes opened the scoring for Chelsea, with Ronny Johnsen equalising for the Red Devils on his debut for the club; the goal coming just six minutes later.
There were to be no more goals scored, meaning that a penalty shoot-out was required to decide the winner. Ed de Goey was also a debutant, playing in goal for Chelsea, but he couldn't to anything to stop any of the United penalty takers from scoring. Meanwhile Scott Sinclair and Roberto Di Matteo both failed to score for Chelsea.
1970-1971: Chelsea 1-2 Everton
In the history of Everton Football Club, there aren't all that many moments to celebrate. They had won the Football League title at the end of the 1969-1970 season, however, allowing them to make it into the Charity Shield as a result. Their opponents were Chelsea, who had won the FA Cup in order to qualify themselves.
There was a feeling for many that Chelsea stood a real chance of winning, in spite of the fact that the Blues were up against the English champions. Chelsea had beaten Leeds United in the FA Cup final, albeit at the second time of asking because that was back in the day of FA Cup replays if the final ended in a draw.
The main reason for the confidence in Chelsea was the fact that the game was being played at Stamford Bridge, meaning that the Blues were effectively the home side. Chelsea did score a goal thanks to Ian Hutchinson, but Everton scored twice courtesy of Alan Whittle and Howard Kendall, who would go on to manage the side.