FA CHARITY / COMMUNITY SHIELD

From its humble beginnings in 1908, when it was known as the Sheriff of London Shield, to its place today as the annual curtain raiser to the English football season, the FA Community Shield (until recent years known as the FA Charity Shield) has long been an important part of the football calendar.
The Shield was initially introduced as a professionals v amateurs charity match with the first game being played in 1908. The reigning Football League Champions, Manchester United, took on Queens Park Rangers, the then-Southern League Champions. This format, with the occasional representative side taking part, was to form the basis of the competition for many years.
The competition's profile was raised immeasurably in 1974 when the then-FA Secretary Ted Croker proposed the Shield be played at Wembley. It was to prove a great success with the 1974 encounter attracting 67,000 fans when Liverpool beat Leeds United 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
Nowadays whenever a Charity Shield match is drawn the tie is decided by a penalty shoot-out, although for a short spell during the 1980s and 1990s the trophy was shared.
United appeared in no fewer than seven Shield matches in the 1990s - winning four, drawing one and losing one. In 2001 United appeared in their sixth Shield in a row and eighth in nine years. United also competed in the highest scoring Shield match ever when they defeated Swindon Town 8-4 in 1911.
The Reds suffered Community Shield defeats at the start of the 1998/99, 1999/2000 and 2000/01 seasons, but went on to win the league title at the end of each term.
After going down 2-1 to Liverpool in 2001 Shield, Tim Howard was the hero in the 2003 victory over Arsenal, acrobatically saving spot-kicks from Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Robert Pires to give United a 4-3 penalty shoot-out win after the game had ended 1-1. Arsenal gained revenge a year later, sealing a 3-1 victory over Sir Alex's men.
United claimed two successive shoot-out victories in the 2007 and 2008 spectacles against Chelsea and Portsmouth respectively.
Having lost out to Chelsea in the 2009 clash, the Reds ensured a positive start to the 2010/11 campaign with a 3-1 victory over the Blues. Goals from Antonio Valencia, Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez - making his full debut as a half-time substitute - and Dimitar Berbatov secured a record 18th triumph.
Against Manchester City the following year, Nani's injury-time goal capped a dramatic 3-2 comeback win for United, who had been 2-0 down at half-time. And Robin van Persie's double secured a 20th triumph (and the first under David Moyes) in 2013 as Wigan Athletic were defeated 2-0 at Wembley.