The Community Shield, and Other Curtain-Raising Football Matches

It’s Chelsea vs Man United in the FA Community Shield this Sunday. Or the Charity Shield as I still insist on calling it, even though I know better. For those unfamiliar, the Community Shield is the season curtain-raiser in England, pitting the previous season’s Premier League champions against the previous season’s FA Cup winners. In this case Chelsea won both bits of silverware titles, and so league runners-up Manchester United will step in.

The Community Shield exists in the strange void somewhere between friendly (teams can make six subs) and proper game. So it’s a weird atmosphere, but worth a watch, if only as a way of easing yourself into 2010/11. OF course England is not alone in having a game of this nature. So below you’ll find a quick outline of the curtain-raising half friendly events in the four other big European leagues. If you know of any more then please feel free to add them in the comments.

Germany: The DFB Supercup sees Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich take on Bundesliga runners-up (and recent Raul employers) Schalke this Saturday. As in England, this is because Bayern also won the DFB Pokal. The DFB Supercup replaces the more complex six-team DFB Ligapokal, which ended in 2007. In 2008 and 2009 there were “unofficial” DFB Supercup meetings between league and cup winners, but 2010 marks the official return of the tournament, which was last played in 1996.

Spain: The Supercopa de España pairs the La Liga winners with the Copa del Rey winners. So that means it’s Barcelona vs Sevilla, who will play over two legs, home away, August 14th and August 21st. In contrast to the K-League, Sevilla will be requesting that Leo Messi please not play. Or at least they should.

France: The French game easily has the grandest name: the Trophée des champions. Again it’s league winners vs cup winners. This year that was Ligue 1 champs Marseille vs Coupe de France winners PSG. The game has already been played (July 28th) with Marseille winning on penalty kicks after a 0-0 draw. But here’s the twist: For the second year running, the game was played not in France but in Tunisia, as part of Ligue 1’s effort to promote the game abroad.

Italy: The Italian game is called the Supercoppa Italiana, and has the Serie A winners play the Coppa Italia winners. If one team holds both trophies then the Italian twist is that the Coppa Italia runners-up (not the league runners-up) play in the Supercoppa. This year it’s domestic double (plus Champions League of course) winners Inter vs Coppa Italia runners-up Roma. Last year’s game was played in the Birds Nest Stadium, Beijing, Chine, but this year will be a more simple affair. It’s August 21st at the San Siro in Milan.

Of course many many other footballing nations have curtain-raising cups. If you want to add to the list, please share your knowledge in the comments, with as many details as possible.

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Category: World Football