Fa Community (Charity Shield)-curtain raiser to the new football season (FA Charity Shield)

Member Name: ajbluestar

Product:	FA Charity Shield
Date:	10/08/09 (61 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: reasonably priced, Wembley, good spectacle, see new players/signings

Disadvantages: not as important as other major trophies

As a Chelsea fan I was fortunate enough to get a ticket to the community (Charity) shield yesterday as Chelsea beat Manchester United on penalties in the curtain raiser for the new football season. Most people regard the Community shield as a slightly over glamorous friendly game but it also provides the winning team with a trophy and a psychological boost before the league season starts proper. The community shield game is also used to generate money for charities and the football community in general and tickets are in my opinion reasonably priced-Chelsea tickets were between £15-40 with cheaper tickets in the highest areas of the stadium with more expensive seats in the lower tiers at the sides of the stadium.

A bit of information on the Community shield itself. It is an English Football Association (The FA) trophy which is a match currently played every year between the champions of the FA Premier League and the winners of the FA Cup. The Shield helps the FA to raise funds for various charities in England. The money for this comes from sales of tickets and matchday programmes. The FA Charity Partners, community organisations and smaller football clubs usually benefit from these funds. The game is currently played at Wembley Stadium which is the national stadium of England. Whilst Wembley Stadium was being rebuilt the games were played at the Millennium Stadium with the first game at the new Wembley being played just like this year with Chelsea and Manchester United with Manchester Uniteed triumphant that time on penalties. One other thing about the game is that if it is level after 90 minutes the game goes straight to penalties.

Overall the competion is not a real major trophy like the Premiership, Champions League or Fa Cup but it is something that is nice to win at the start of the season. It is also a game which gives teams the chance to test out new formations and players before the season starts properly and allows players to gain sharpness and match fitness. The game yesterday unlike some in previous years was very competitive as Chelsea came back from a goal behind to take a slightly controversial 2-1 lead. Ballack's challenge was a foul but footballers are professionals and they play to the whistle and as the referee didn't whistle or stop play it was a valid goal. Just when Chelsea thought they had won though Wayne Rooney scored an equaliser in injury time (maybe offside) which took the game to penalties which Chelsea won. It was a very exciting and entertaining game for what is usually considered to be not the most important of the season. I think this game shows that these two teams will be the main forces this season especially in the Premier league. The community shield is a good day out for the fans of the clubs and is more a spectacle than a great competition but it is a great tradition at the start of the football season.

Summary: a good way to start the new football season