People are constantly stopping me on the street and saying, "Hey Sanford! What the hell is the Community Shield?" So in order to save time in my life and ease the difficulty that now exists when running simple errands, I'll give a brief explanation...
This match has been called the Community Shield since 2002. Prior to that (all the way back to 1908) it was called the Charity Shield. In recent times it has become the curtain raiser for the new season. It pits the winner of the top division (now called the English Premier League) against the winner of the F.A. Cup. F.A. stands for Football Association. Although it is a "friendly" that has no bearing on the season itself, it is a trophy nonetheless and often results in a great match. Since the teams playing are usually close in stature, there is a rivalry and intensity that exists, and tensions have been known to boil over. The match is not usually a mellow stroll in the park. Roy Keene's "tackle" on Gus Poyet in 2000 speaks to that.
One day the match might be played at the new Wembley. But until that fiasco is sorted it will remain in Cardiff, in the Millenium Stadium. And yes, it was called the Charity Shield because the money goes to charity. I think they changed the name to make it sound a little better. Anyway, the dough goes to all the 124 clubs that played in the first round of the F.A. Cup the previous year and they then give it to a local charity of their chosing.
http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-englandshield_preview&prov=reuters&type=lgns
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