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Could the Community Shield go abroad? FA inspired by Manchester United success in USA

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In 2008 Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore announced to the world his plans to introduce “Game 39” into the league’s season – a single fixture to be played between all 20 teams at 10 separate locations around the world.
 
The plan was met with near universal derision with opponents ranging from the Football Supporters’ Federation to Sepp Blatter at Fifa. 
 
The FA also told the Premier League that its ambitious plans needed a rethink.
 
Yet English football’s governing body could now be following a similar path, after FA general secretary Alex Horne admitted that the organisation was looking at the possibility of taking the Community Shield abroad.
 
Arsenal beat Manchester City 3-0 in this year’s Community Shield on Sunday, yet nearly 20,000 seats were left empty as City failed to sell out their allocation.
 
In contrast 109,000 US football fans packed into Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor to watch Manchester United take on Real Madrid in a pre-season tournament earlier this month.
 
Horne said:
 
It’s an interesting idea and, obviously, we’ve seen the NFL do something similar with their games coming to Wembley.
 
The NBA are doing it and we know that Spanish football and Italian football are looking at doing that with their own Supercup-type games.
 
It’s an interesting opportunity but, as I say, right now we’ve got a contract with Wembley. And the fans, and the players enjoy playing at Wembley.
 


PSG in China, where they beat Guingamp 2-0 in the 2014 Trophee des Champions final (Source: Getty)

European precedent

There is precedent for the FA to follow. In fact, in many ways, the Community Shield's homely return to Wembley each year has some growing up to do when put against its European rivals.
 
The move to showcase competitive domestic games abroad is well established in France after the French Football Federation (FFF) decided to take its Community Shield equivalent, the Trophée des Champions, to the world in 2009.
 
The Trophée des Champions has been held in Canada, Tunisia, Morocco, USA, Gabon and, earlier this month, the Workers Stadium in Beijing, China, where Paris Saint Germain beat Guingamp 2-0. The venture has generally been a success, however just 15,166 fans turned up to watch the 2012 event in New Jersey.
 
The Suppercoppa Italiana, the Italian equivalent to the Community Shield, has also been staged abroad in cities such as Beijing, New York, New Jersey and Tripoli.
 
Erick Thohir, the Indonesian president of Internazionale, has even said that high profile Serie A games such as the Milan derby should be played abroad in order to raise the profile the game internationally.
 
In Spain, the Supercopa de Espana is likely to remain at home as long as it stays in its current format (teams play two legs, home and away) yet La Liga president Javier Tebas told The Telegraph earlier this month that he would consider taking the league's games abroad, with the US a particular destination in mind.
 
Tebas said: 
 
Today we play in Spain, but the future has no frontiers. La Liga will continue to work on our global format so that our League can be visible the world over. From here, anything is conceivable.
 
La Liga considers the US a priority and we will work with all our available resources to reach the American public…if this comes to pass, La Liga, as a brand will be in the best possible showcase in the world.

Benefits to emigration

The benefits from hosting the game abroad for the FA are clear. While swathes of match day tickets, which cost between £20 and £45, went unsold this weekend, tickets for the game which attracted the colossal crowd at Michigan's "Big House" stadium had an average price on the secondary ticket market of $386.32, according to Forbes.

Premier League clubs would also be more than happy with another chance to showcase their brands to global audiences. In total 19 of the 20 clubs went abroad for at least part of their pre-season campaigns this summer.

Arsenal, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Swansea City, Tottenham Hotspur and West Bromwich Albion all played pre-season games in the US. Newcastle United and West Ham United even travelled as far as New Zealand in a bid to expand their fanbase.

However, whether the FA really does want to up sticks with the Community Shield or not, no move can happen until 2018 due to a contract with Wembley which stipulates the competition must be played at the famous stadium.