Fans of rival clubs often debate whether the Community Shield is considered an actual trophy or a preseason friendly.
The first piece of silverware of the 2016-2017 campaign has been won by Manchester United. The FA Cup holder’s 2-1 victory over Champions Leicester City at Wembley Stadium is in the books and the new season kicks off next weekend.
Winning trophies is priority number one for every team as well as each club’s fans. Domestically in England, being crowned Premier League champions is the biggest achievement of all. The FA Cup is considered the second most prestigious trophy followed by the League Cup. Then there’s the Community Shield. It’s often looked at as the black sheep of the trophy circuit.
Many soccer fans consider the Community Shield nothing more than a preseason friendly. Of course opinions on this matter seem to change when the team that one supports is the victor.
Nowhere is this more evident than on social media. Take for example the following Twitter posts. One exuberant supporter celebrated with this Tweet.
This led to responses from Arsenal fans.
While these Tweets may be sour grapes coming from Arsenal supporters disgusted to see any success achieved by Manchester United, there is a bigger reason. When Arsenal won the Community Shield in 2014 and 2015 fans of other teams were quick to rain on their celebration.
Regardless of what the fans think of the actual silverware awarded, the Community Shield has been contested every year since 1908. (It was originally called the Charity Shield up until 2002.)
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In trying to find out once and for all if the Community Shield is a trophy or not I turned to the official Football Association website. The word trophy is never used in the explanation of the competition.
Perhaps the best explanation came from the FA Community Shield Wikipedia page.
"While still an honor in the English game, the Community Shield has markedly lower status than the Premier League, FA Cup and the League Cup. It is widely considered to be a minor trophy and Community Shield games may not be as hotly contested as other trophy finals."