2005 FA Community Shield

Founded in 1908 as a successor to the Sheriff of London Charity Shield,{{cite news |title=Abandonment of the Sheriff Shield |page=11 |newspaper=The Observer |location=London |date=19 April 1908}} the FA Community Shield began as a contest between the respective champions of the Football League and Southern League, although in 1913, it was played between an Amateurs XI and a Professionals XI.{{cite news |title=The F.A. Charity Shield |page=10 |newspaper=The Times |date=7 October 1913}} In 1921, it was played by the league champions of the top division and FA Cup winners for the first time.{{cite news |first=Peter |last=Ferguson |title=The Shield: From the beginning |url=http://www.mcfc.co.uk/news/team-news/2011/august/community-shield-2011/the-shield-from-the-beginning |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830223116/http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Team-news/2011/August/Community-Shield-2011/The-Shield-from-the-beginning |publisher=Manchester City F.C. |date=4 August 2011 |access-date=21 April 2014 |archive-date=30 August 2011}}{{#tag:ref|The Premier League replaced the Football League First Division at the top of the English football pyramid after its inception in 1992.{{cite news |title=Continental or the full English? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2001/dec/02/sport.sportfeatures |first=Alex |last=Fynn |newspaper=The Observer |location=London |date=2 December 2001 |access-date=3 July 2014}}|group=lower-alpha}} Cardiff's Millennium Stadium was hosting the Shield for the fifth time; it took over as the venue for the event while Wembley Stadium underwent a six-year renovation between 2001 and 2006.{{cite web|title=The FA Community Shield history |url=http://www.thefa.com/fa-community-shield/more/history |publisher=The Football Association |access-date=3 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130609184712/http://www.thefa.com/fa-community-shield/more/history |archive-date=9 June 2013 |url-status=live }}

Chelsea qualified for the 2005 FA Community Shield as winners of the 2004–05 FA Premier League. It was their first league title in 50 years, remembered for the records broken such as the most wins, fewest goals conceded in a league season and most points accumulated.{{cite news |title=Chelsea ease into record books |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2005/may/11/match.manchesterunited |first=Kevin |last=McCarra |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=11 May 2005 |access-date=18 May 2014}}{{cite news |title=2004–05 Season Review |url=http://www.premierleague.com/history/2004-05 |publisher=Premier League |access-date=19 July 2016 |archive-date=11 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711050416/http://www.premierleague.com/history/2004-05 |url-status=dead }} The other Community Shield place went to Arsenal, who beat Manchester United on penalties to win the final of the 2004–05 FA Cup. Arsenal was making its 19th Community Shield appearance and held the Shield after beating Manchester United 3–1 a year previously.{{cite web|url=http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/community-shield/honours |title=English Community Shield: Honours |publisher=Statto Organisation |access-date=21 May 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713124226/http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/community-shield/honours |archive-date=13 July 2014 }} By contrast this was Chelsea's fifth appearance, their first since 2000.{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engsupcuphist.html |title=England – List of FA Charity/Community Shield Matches |publisher=Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) |date=15 August 2013 |access-date=2 April 2014 |first=James |last=Ross}} It was also the first meeting between both sides in the Shield.

Chelsea manager José Mourinho described relations between the two clubs as "non-existent", given his club's approach to sign (tapping up) Arsenal defender Ashley Cole.{{cite news |last=Wiechula |first=Frank |title=Wenger's Guns aim at Kenyon |date=7 August 2005 |newspaper=The People |location=London |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/wengers-guns-aim-at-kenyon-1609790 |access-date=29 May 2014}} The player had met Mourinho and chief executive Peter Kenyon at a London hotel in January 2005, without Arsenal's consent.{{cite news |title=Tapping-up row that ran and ran |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2360492/Tapping-up-row-that-ran-and-ran.html |first=Christopher |last=Davies |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=2 June 2005 |access-date=25 May 2014}} Chelsea, Mourinho and Cole were all later found guilty by an independent commission and fined accordingly; the club was charged the most amount – £300,000.{{cite news |title=Record fines will not cut off tap at source |first=Matt |last=Dickinson |page=95 |newspaper=The Times |date=2 June 2005}}

The ownership of Chelsea by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich also caused friction between both clubs. Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger said in May 2005: "They are a financially doped club. They have enhancement of performances through financial resources which are unlimited. For me, it's a kind of doping because it's not in any way linked to their resources. It puts pressure on the market that is not very healthy. They can go to Steven Gerrard or Rio Ferdinand and 'say how much do you earn, we'll give you twice as much.'"{{cite news |title=Mourinho's X-Files |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/4398956.stm |work=BBC Sport |date=2 November 2005 |access-date=29 May 2014}} Wenger admitted this put Arsenal at a disadvantage in the transfer market; in the case of Shaun Wright-Phillips, a long-term target, Chelsea's interest meant Arsenal needed to wait before making a bid.{{cite news |title=Wenger faces Wright-Phillips wait |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/4669433.stm |work=BBC Sport |date=11 July 2005 |access-date=29 May 2014}} The player eventually joined Chelsea from Manchester City for £21 million.{{cite news |title=Wright-Phillips signs for Chelsea |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4621425.stm |work=BBC Sport |date=18 July 2005 |access-date=29 May 2014}}

Chelsea fielded a full-strength team, which lined up in a 4–3–3 formation; an attacking three of Didier Drogba, Damien Duff and Arjen Robben.{{cite web|url=https://review.chelseafc.com/news-article/article/861943 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140701142133/http://review.chelseafc.com/news-article/article/861943 |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 July 2014 |title=Community Shield team news: Chelsea v Arsenal |publisher=Chelsea Football Club |date=7 August 2005 |access-date=18 May 2014 }} Asier Del Horno was named as left back, which meant William Gallas moved to central defence. Wright-Phillips began the match on the substitute bench. Arsenal's line up by contrast was relatively inexperienced in midfield – Gilberto Silva was on the bench and Mathieu Flamini partnered Cesc Fàbregas in the centre. Up front Dennis Bergkamp started alongside striker Thierry Henry. The team played in a 4–4–2 formation.{{cite news |title=Arsenal |page=S11 |newspaper=The Times |date=8 August 2005}}

File:CHELSEA v arsenal - Community Shield 2005 (401045836) (2).jpg

The stadium observed a period of silence in memory of the victims of the July bombings in London, and a mark of respect to Arsenal fan Anthony Walker, killed on Merseyside the previous week.{{cite web |title=Silence observed for murdered fan |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/4127742.stm |work=BBC News |date=6 August 2005 |access-date=19 July 2016}} Arsenal in their away strip of yellow kicked off the match; they won a corner after four minutes, but their threat was averted by Chelsea.{{cite news |title=Clockwatch: Chelsea 2–1 Arsenal |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/4129288.stm |work=BBC Sport |date=7 August 2005 |access-date=30 December 2013}} In the eighth minute Del Horno hit a long pass to the edge of Arsenal's right area. Drogba controlled the ball with his chest and went beyond his marker Philippe Senderos. He shot the ball past goalkeeper Jens Lehmann in the Arsenal goal to give Chelsea a 1–0 lead.{{cite news |title=Drogba power delivers the early prize |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2005/aug/08/match.sport11 |first=Kevin |last=McCarra |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=8 August 2005 |access-date=29 May 2014}} Arsenal began to dominate proceedings, but struggled to make use of their advantage. A slip by Senderos in the 20th minute invited Robben to make a run down the right side of the pitch, but the chance for Chelsea was brief as Senderos won the ball back. Four minutes later Fàbregas and Claude Makélélé were each shown a yellow card for clashing with one another. Arsenal in the 36th minute fashioned their best chance of the game through Kolo Touré, whose shot forced goalkeeper Petr Čech to save acrobatically.{{cite news |title=Chelsea lift Community Shield |url=http://www1.skysports.com/football/live/match/61666/report |publisher=Sky Sports |first=Patrick |last=Goss |date=7 August 2005 |access-date=14 January 2013}} Six minutes before the interval Drogba was ruled offside, but continued to run in the direction of Arsenal's goal. He went down on a challenge from Lauren and proceeded to roll around Arsenal's penalty area once Lehmann got involved – the "farce" was brought to a close after words from the referee.

Arsenal made a host of changes before the match restarted – Gilberto, Robin van Persie and Alexander Hleb were substituted on for Bergkamp, Robert Pires and Flamini.{{cite news |title=Drogba's double spells trouble |first=Matt |last=Dickinson |pages=S10-11 |newspaper=The Times |date=8 August 2005}} Robben made a run down the right side of the pitch, but failed to get past Senderos in what was the first notable action of the second half. Moments after, Freddie Ljungberg's attempt on goal was cleared by the Chelsea defence following good play by Van Persie. In the 57th minute Chelsea increased their lead. A long pass found Drogba, who once more held off Senderos in pursuit of the ball. He was forced wide by Lehmann, but on the turn shot the ball through the net to score his second goal of the game. Drogba was then replaced by Hernán Crespo, and Tiago came on for Eiður Guðjohnsen. Arsenal scored in the 64th minute; Ljungberg crossed the ball from the left and Fàbregas evaded the Chelsea defence to slot it past Čech in the goal. Both clubs made mass substitutions in the final third of the game, notably Wright-Phillips coming on for his Chelsea debut in place of Robben. Arsenal continued to push for an equaliser the longer the match went on, which meant they were culpable to Chelsea countering. A free-kick by Van Persie was saved by Čech and it was not until the 86th minute that Henry fashioned his first chance of the half – it too was dealt with by Čech. Chelsea continued to withstand Arsenal's pressure in injury time and came close to scoring a third goal, but for Touré's intervention.

{{football box

|date=7 August 2005

|time=15:00 BST

|team1=Arsenal

|score=1–2

|report=[https://archive.today/20050809002204/http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACommunityShield/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2005/07/CommunityShield2005_MatchReport.htm Report]

|team2=Chelsea

|goals1=Fàbregas {{goal|64}}

|goals2=Drogba {{goal|8||58}}

|stadium=Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

|attendance=58,014

|referee=Howard Webb (South Yorkshire) }}

|valign="top"|

|valign="top" width="50%"|

|}

{{Quote box|width=260px|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|align=right|quote= "Our strength is that we can mix it up. We can play football, or we can ask for a longer ball. Playing a long-ball game does not mean you show a lack of quality. We have different qualities – that is one of our strengths."|salign = left |source=Frank Lampard on Chelsea's playing style.{{cite news |title=Lampard says Wenger is rattled by Chelsea |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/lampard-says-wenger-is-rattled-by-chelsea-502436.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/lampard-says-wenger-is-rattled-by-chelsea-502436.html |archive-date=1 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |first=Jason |last=Burt |newspaper=The Independent |location=London |date=12 August 2005 |access-date=29 December 2013}}{{cbignore}}}}

Mourinho believed his team deserved to win and said after scoring the first goal, "we looked comfortable and solid in the defence and good on the counter-attack."{{cite web |title=Smiles on our faces |url=http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACommunityShield/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2005/07/CS2005_JoseMourinho_Reaction.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20051112115149/http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACommunityShield/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2005/07/CS2005_JoseMourinho_Reaction.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 November 2005 |publisher=The Football Association |date=7 August 2005 |access-date=30 December 2013 }} He did not believe the result would have any consequences for either team, but said "...it is better to win than to lose and we can go home happy and with a smile on our faces." John Terry described the victory as a "perfect start", and added it gave Chelsea a psychological edge over Arsenal.{{cite news |title=Chelsea boss hails winning effort |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/4747703.stm |work=BBC Sport |date=7 August 2005 |access-date=30 December 2013}} Drogba felt the result was good for the team's confidence, though confessed Chelsea did not play well – particularly in midfield.

Two weeks after the Community Shield match, both teams played each other in the league at Chelsea's home ground, Stamford Bridge.{{cite news |title=The Weekend's Fixtures |page=81 |newspaper=The Times |date=20 August 2005}} Drogba scored the only goal of the game, which marked Arsenal's first league defeat against their opponents in ten years.{{cite news |title=Chelsea 1–0 Arsenal |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4148530.stm |work=BBC Sport |date=21 August 2005 |access-date=29 December 2013}} Chelsea also beat Arsenal away from home on their last visit to Highbury, later in December, and went on to retain the Premier League.{{cite news |title=Chelsea raise their game to leave Wenger alone in despondency |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2005/dec/19/match.sport11 |first=Kevin |last=McCarra |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=19 December 2005 |access-date=30 December 2013}}{{cite news |title=Clinical Chelsea expose Ferguson's blind faith |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2006/may/01/match.sport5 |first=Kevin |last=McCarra |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=1 May 2006 |access-date=30 December 2013}}

At odds with their indifferent league form which led them to a narrowly-earned 4th place finish (outside of the top two for the first time under coach Arsene Wenger), Arsenal's performances in the UEFA Champions League were appreciable. They became the first London team to participate in a European Cup final, though lost 2–1 to Barcelona in the Stade de France, Paris.{{cite news |title=Gunners to rake in the riches after Spanish survival |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2006/apr/26/championsleague200506.championsleague |first=Matt |last=Scott |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=26 April 2006 |access-date=30 December 2013}}{{cite news |title=Valiant Arsenal fall at the last |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2006/may/18/match.championsleague |first=Kevin |last=McCarra |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=18 May 2006 |access-date=30 December 2013}}

• 2005–06 FA Premier League
• 2005–06 FA Cup
• Arsenal F.C.–Chelsea F.C. rivalry

{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

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{{commons category}}

{{FA Community Shield}}

{{Arsenal F.C. matches}}

{{Chelsea F.C. matches}}

{{2005–06 in English football}}

{{good article}}

2005

Community Shield

Charity Shield 2005

Charity Shield 2005

Community Shield

Category:2000s in Cardiff

Category:Association football matches in Wales

Category:Football competitions in Cardiff