2002 FA Community Shield

2002 FA Community Shield

The match programme cover
Arsenal Liverpool 1 0
Date	11 August 2002
Venue	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Man of the Match	Martin Keown (Arsenal)[1]
Referee	Alan Wiley (Staffordshire)
Attendance	67,337
Weather	Mostly cloudy Light rain showers 16 °C (61 °F)[2]
← 2001 (Charity Shield) 2003 →

The 2002 FA Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield in partnership with McDonald's for sponsorship reasons) was the 80th FA Community Shield, an annual English football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup. It was the first edition since the competition's rename from the FA Charity Shield. The match was contested by Arsenal, who won a league and FA Cup double the previous season, and Liverpool, who finished runners-up in the league. It was held at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, on 11 August 2002. Arsenal won the match by one goal to nil, watched by a crowd of 67,337.

This was Arsenal's 16th Shield appearance and Liverpool's 20th. Arsenal were without several of their first choice players in midfield, who were absent through injury; this prompted a shuffle in the team which saw striker Sylvain Wiltord positioned on the left wing. For Liverpool, defender Markus Babbel was named as a substitute after a lengthy period out of the side through illness. New signing El Hadji Diouf started in a creative role, behind strikers Michael Owen and Emile Heskey to begin with.

The only goal of the match came in the second half; Arsenal substitute Gilberto Silva on his debut collected a pass from Dennis Bergkamp and struck the ball through goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek's legs. Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger praised the match-winner in his post-match interview, while opposing manager Gérard Houllier felt the result showed that his team needed more game time and attention to passing, in order to improve. The result meant Arsenal was the first team to win the Shield outright 11 times, while it marked Liverpool's first defeat at the Millennium Stadium.