How many times have Arsenal won the Charity/Community Shield?

Today in 2015 Arsenal won the Community Shield.   I rather suspect that while many Arsenal supporters will know how many times Arsenal have won the FA Cup and how many times the League, they might be a little less sure of where things stand in terms of the Community Shield.

And of course this is understandable – it is very much the lesser of the various trophies – for one can only enter it by having won the league or the cup.

In fact Manchester United have won it outright 17 times while Arsenal are the second most proficient club for the shield with 14 outright wins.   The club won it once more after the victory celebrated here: in 2017.

Liverpool come third in the table with 10.  Everton have 8 wins and then Manchester City with five after which come Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Wolverhampton with four.

The totals given are for actual wins in the game – the Shield has on occasion been equally divided when the two teams have drawn the match.  I have not counted these.

It is remarkable (to me if no one else) how quickly the numbers decline.

2 August 1914, Henry Norris with family and friends continued their touring holiday by entering Belgium, while experiencing what one of the party later described as “a little difficulty”, 

2 August 1917: Squadron Commander E. H. Dunning became the first pilot to land his aircraft on a ship although he died five days later undertaking the task again. 

2 August 1934: Lt Col Sir Henry Norris, the man who rescued the club from bankruptcy, paid for Highbury, brought in Herbert Chapman and created the modern Arsenal was laid to rest in the cemetery at East Sheen.

2 August 1951: Arsenal beat Northern Polytechnic at cricket.  George Swindin, the goalkeeper who was to become manager, took nine wickets.

2 August 1956 Tony Biggs signed as a professional with Arsenal..  He played his first of four games for the club in April 1958, but was transferred to Leyton Orient in December of that year.

2 August 1975, Arsenal on a low key Scottish tour lost 2-1 to Dundee with 6950 in the crowd. Cropley, scored the Arsenal goal.  But matters were redeemed two days later with the score Aberdeen 0 Arsenal 1, with 10,500 in the ground

2 August 1999: Davor Šuker arrived from Real Madrid for £3.5m; Nic Anelka sold to Real Madrid for around £25m.  Davor Šuker scored two in his first game, but it took eight games for another summer arrival (Henry) to score.

2 August 2003: Arsenal drew with Celtic 1-1 away.  The BBC report of the game said, “Arsenal also had an unfamiliar face in goal, new signing Jens Lehmann”.

2 August 2006: Kevin Campbell moved from WBA to Cardiff City.  It was the final move of the player who made 166 league appearances for Arsenal.  He later ran a security firm, was involved in the music industry, and commentated on football.

2 August 2011: Jamie Edge sold to WBA.  Although spoken of as being supremely talented he never once played for Arsenal or WBA and during 2013/14 was registered with five separate non-league clubs.  By 2018 he was playing for Swindon Supermarine.

2 August 2013: Chuks Aneke signed for Crewe on loan for the second successive season.  He played 70 league games and scored 20 goals over the two seasons.  In 2019, after playing for Milton Keynes Dons, he signed for Charlton Athletic.

2 August 2014: Arsenal played Benfica in the Emirates Cup including Sanogo in the team who scored his first four Arsenal goals, plus Héctor Bellerín and Joel Campbell.  16 months later Sanogo’s Arsenal career seemed stalled while Bellerin and Campbell were first team regulars.

2 August 2015: Arsenal won the Charity/Community Shield for the 14th time by beating Chelsea 1-0, with a goal from Alex Oxlade Chamberlain.

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