Soccer
Is it time to reboot the Community Shield?
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The 2026-27 top-flight season gets underway next weekend, but not before this weekend's Community Shield as Premier League winners Arsenal take on FA Cup victors Manchester City.
The long-standing tradition dates back to 1908, when Football League champions Manchester United beat Southern League table-toppers QPR in a replay to claim the first-ever victory.
For much of the first few decades, the format differed, but since 1961 the Charity Shield, now the Community Shield, has stuck with its title winners versus FA Cup holders remit.
It's a game that is often viewed as a glorified pre-season friendly, with little substance put on the result, despite a trophy win.
So, ahead of the 2026 showdown this weekend, DAZN News suggests some alternatives to give the occasion a reboot.
Make it a cross-border affair
For years, fans have dreamed up ways to mesh the Premier League and the SPL, with Rangers and Celtic constantly discussed in terms of how they would fare in the English football pyramid.
Some suggestions have seen the League Cup become a cross-border competition, giving the early rounds more excitement and seeing match-ups you'd only get once in a campaign.
However, with that feeling like a logistical nightmare, a one-off pre-season showdown between the Premier League winners and the SPL winners feels like it would add a new layer of interest to the occasion. Alternating the game between Wembley and Hampden Park.
Obviously, more often or not it would feature the Glasgow clubs, but it would be a test for them, and pressure on the English side to prove a point.
@CelticFC
Spanish it up
If we want to make it more of a 'tournament ', then a way to go could be to follow the Spanish model of their Super Cup.
Essentially the same idea as the Community Shield, only taken on another level. Currently, the Super Cup sees a four-team competition between the winners and runners-up of both La Liga and the Copa del Rey.
This could be played over one weekend, prior to the Premier League kick-off, and allow more teams to face a 'competitive' clash as preparation for the new campaign.
Where this gets complicated is if one or two of the same teams are both the top two in the league and the FA Cup final.
Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
All-star game
From Spain to the MLS this time, and looking at a proper US tradition: the All-Star Game.
This sees a selected best XI from the MLS season take on a specially invited team, or, as has been the case in the last few seasons, an all-star team from the Mexican top flight.
It probably wouldn't go down well with most Premier League bosses, but how intriguing would it be to see a team that has Erling Haaland flanked by Bukayo Saka and backed up by Bruno Fernandes as a way to open the season?
As for their opponents, I'm sure any major European team would fancy a pre-season trip to Wembley for the game, or if they were very clever, could they face an all-star La Liga or Serie A side?
Elite League
With the Champions League now bigger than ever, why not make the curtain-raiser a real meeting of champions and have a four-nation battle over a weekend?
It could pit the champions of the Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1 and Serie A/Bundesliga in a mini-tournament to see who's best.
With these clashes being staples of pre-season anyway, why not make it mean a little by adding a trophy and an occasion that can be repeated and alternated in venue every summer?
And in doing so, you create a much larger intrigue for a 'curtain-raiser'.
(C)Getty Images
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