The Community Shield is the traditional curtain-raiser to the top-flight football season in England, but is it a good indicator as to who will eventually go on and win the Premier League title?
The 2025 FA Community Shield takes place this weekend (Sunday 10 August) with reigning Premier League title holders Liverpool facing 2024-25 FA Cup winners Crystal Palace at Wembley Stadium.
Considered to be the traditional curtain-raiser to the top-flight campaign, the Community Shield (formerly known as the Charity Shield) was first played in 1908, with this year’s edition the 103rd across its history.
Whether or not the Community Shield is deemed a ‘competitive’ fixture is down to an individual’s interpretation, and it does offer an opportunity for a team to add some silverware to their trophy cabinet, but it’s definitely not classed as a major honour.
But is the Community Shield a good indicator for how successful the teams will go on to be in the Premier League campaign that season?
How Many Teams Have Won the Community Shield and Premier League in the Same Season?
Across the 33 Community Shield matches in the Premier League era (1992-93 onwards), just eight of the teams to win the Community Shield have gone on to lift the Premier League title later that season – less than a quarter of sides (24%).
None of the last five Community Shield winners have gone on to win the Premier League title in the same season, and just one of the last 14 have done so – Manchester City in 2018-19.
Community Shield Winners and Premier League Title Winners
While the 2025 Community Shield will be the first time that Crystal Palace have taken part in the match, Liverpool’s participation will be their 25th overall and their first since 2022.
Potentially a further example of how Community Shield matches might not be the best indicator for future success in the season that follows can be taken from that match in 2022 between Liverpool and Manchester City.
Erling Haaland had a disappointing game. It was his first on English soil after joining City, and he played the full 90 minutes without scoring from three shots, including an open-goal miss where he struck the crossbar. Darwin Núñez, who came on to make his Liverpool debut with just over half an hour left to play, won a penalty and scored Liverpool’s third goal in a 3-1 win.
It wasn’t a sign of things to come, though. Haaland broke the record for the most goals scored in a single Premier League season (36) and netted 52 times in all competitions in 2022-23, leading City to the treble. Núñez, meanwhile, scored just nine Premier League goals as Liverpool finished the campaign fifth in the Premier League and without a trophy other than the Community Shield.
Man City’s league title that season is one of 10 occasions that a team has lost the Community Shield and gone on to win the Premier League in the same campaign – that’s more often than the winners of the Community Shield have managed to do so (eight).
In fact, four of the last six teams to lose the Community Shield match have gone on to win the Premier League title that season: Liverpool in 2019-20 and Man City in 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24. When Man City finally ended their three-game losing run in the Community Shield with their penalty-shootout victory over rivals Manchester United last season, they failed to win the Premier League title.
So, maybe Liverpool shouldn’t be too bothered about beating Crystal Palace this weekend in London. And should the Eagles lose, they should not give up any dreams of winning the Premier League either…
Community Shield Runners Up and Premier League Title Winners
List of Community Shield and Premier League Winners in Seasons
Premier League Stats Opta
*Subscribe to our football newsletter to receive exclusive weekly content. You should also follow our social accounts over on X*, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.**