The traditional season curtain-raiser, the Community Shield is often derided as a glorified friendly. After all, it doesn't really matter whether you win it or not, does it?
Actually, recent history tells us that it does. Manchester City and Manchester United might want to take that into account as they prepare to face off at Wembley this Saturday.
It's a repeat of last season's FA Cup final – in which United beat their local rivals, the reigning Premier League champions, 2-1 – and the 2011 Community Shield. United also won on that occasion – but they didn't go on to retain their Premier League title...
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What is the Community Shield curse?
Pitting the previous campaign's Premier League champions against the previous season's FA Cup winners (or, in the event that a team does the double, the Premier League runners-up), the Community Shield dates all the way back to 1908 – when it began life as the Charity Shield, its first staging taking place between the First Division champions, United, and Southern League champions, QPR The winners haven't always been cursed – but that does seem to be the case nowadays.
Since Sir Alex Ferguson's United won the 2010/11 Premier League title after claiming the 2010 Community Shield – defeating Chelsea 3-1 – only one side has clinched the Community Shield and the Premier League title in the same season. That was Pep Guardiola's City in 2018/19 – when they pipped Liverpool in a pulsating title race to be crowned champions by a single point.
So, of the last 13 teams to win the Community Shield, 12 have failed to end the season as Premier League champions. Arsenal have fallen victim to the curse five times – including last year, when they saw off City on penalties – with United succumbing three times, City themselves twice, and Liverpool and Leicester once each.
This will be City's fourth straight Community Shield appearance. They've lost each of the last three – and while they certainly won't celebrate another defeat, that might just be the best outcome as they aim for a record-extending fifth straight top-flight title.
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