2001 FA Charity Shield

The Millennium Stadium, which was hosting the Shield for the first time.

Founded in 1908 as a successor to the Sheriff of London Charity Shield,[2] 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.[3] In 1921, it was played by the league champions of the top division and FA Cup winners for the first time.[4][lower-alpha 1] Wembley Stadium acted as the host of the Shield from 1974.[6] Cardiff's Millennium Stadium was hosting the Shield for the first time; it took over as the venue for the event while the new Wembley Stadium underwent a six-year renovation between 2001 and 2006.[6]

Liverpool qualified for the Charity Shield by winning the 2000–01 FA Cup. They beat Arsenal 2–1 in the final, courtesy of two goals from Michael Owen after Freddie Ljungberg had given Arsenal the lead.[7] Manchester United qualified by way of winning the 2000–01 FA Premier League, their third successive league championship. They finished 10 points clear of second placed Arsenal.[8]

Liverpool were appearing in their 19th match in the competition. They had won seven outright (1966, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1988, 1989), shared five (1964, 1965, 1974, 1977, 1986, 1990) and lost five (1922, 1971, 1983, 1984, 1992). This was Manchester United's 21st and sixth consecutive appearance in the competition, they had won 10 (1908, 1911, 1952, 1956, 1957, 1983, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997), shared four (1965, 1967, 1977, 1990) and lost six (1948, 1963, 1985, 1998, 1999, 2000). Liverpool and United had previously contested the Shield four times, with United winning in 1983 and the Shield being shared on the other three occasions in 1965, 1977 and 1990.[9]

Before the match, the decision was taken to close the roof on the Millennium Stadium, the first time this had happened in the United Kingdom.[10] Liverpool lined up in a 4–4–2 formation, with new signing John Arne Riise included in the team, while midfielder Steven Gerrard was absent with an ankle injury.[11] There was also no place for striker Robbie Fowler, who was expected to captain the side.[12] Manchester United lined up in a 4–4–1–1 formation, with Paul Scholes playing just off the main striker, Ruud van Nistelrooy, who made his debut for the club. Van Nistelrooy's fellow new signing, Juan Sebastián Verón, was on international duty with the Argentina national team; his place in midfield was taken by Nicky Butt.[11]

The win marked Liverpool's third consecutive victory against Manchester United,[15] but despite this, manager Houllier refused to get carried away: "At the moment I am worried because the team which has won the Charity Shield in recent years has not won the title, I don't think you can draw conclusions from this match." Man of the match Sander Westerveld echoed similar sentiments: "It doesn't say too much about the season. Last year Chelsea beat them 2-0 and had high expectations. We played well and it's a good result but it doesn't say anything about the Championship."[1] Questions were asked about the exclusion of striker Robbie Fowler from the match-day squad, with Houllier confirming the striker had been left out after a training ground bust-up with assistant manager Phil Thompson: "It is a regrettable moment for the team and the club but I'm sure at some stage common sense will prevail. I am leaving it to him. I brokered a get-together between Phil and Robbie, which I attended at the beginning. Then I left the two Scousers together. But so far it has been unsuccessful." Houllier added that he had tried to resolve the issue before the start of the match: "I waited until the Sunday lunchtime before the Charity Shield game. I again insisted yesterday. I took them together again. I think at some stage it will be solved. I am a patient man."[16]

Manchester United manager Ferguson was critical of the performance of referee D'Urso: "I felt sorry for the referee today, it doesn't matter how much training you have in any job. It's about temperament, and I just think the lad was too nervous for that today." Despite losing their fourth consecutive Charity Shield match, Ferguson did not believe it would affect his team heading into the start of the season: "We certainly hope we can go on to win the title again like we have in previous years. We just need to keep the standards up and show the desire we did in the second half." He was also unsure whether Liverpool would be able to challenge for the Premier League: "It's difficult to assess Liverpool at the moment. They started with confidence, but then you would expect that from a team that won three trophies a few months ago. You would also expect us to be sluggish at the start, because we are bloody good at it."[17]

The match was marred by a series of hooligan incidents occurring near the stadium. It was being played the day before a Cardiff City game; a group of Cardiff City fans entered the Prince of Wales public house in the city to find it occupied by Manchester United fans staying in the city overnight. A series of running battles between fans of the two clubs followed, resulting in 22 arrests (including two boys aged just 11 and 13) as well as a man suffering stab wounds and a police officer suffering a broken arm. On the day of the game, an army of around 50 Cardiff and Liverpool hooligans were seen attacking United supporters in the Wood Street area.[18]