Decision made on Community Shield venue after Arsenal talks

Arsenal had been involved in conversations to host the Community Shield this year, with Wembley unavailable due to the Women’s European Championship final.

But the Evening Standard report that the King Power Stadium has won the race to host the match on July 30th.

Arsenal reportedly decided to focus on the Emirates Cup when it became clear the Community Shield would be on the 30th instead of the 31st – with the 30th being the planned date for the fixture against Sevilla.

Arsenal fans would probably have had mixed feelings about the Community Shield being hosted at the Emirates anyway.

It would have been some easy money for the club to reinvest in the squad, but also an opportunity for a rival to lift silverware at the Emirates.

Even if it’s just the Community Shield, you don’t really want all the talk about how Liverpool lifted a trophy at the Emirates before Arsenal did.

Arsenal have obviously won a number of FA Cups and Community Shields since moving to the Emirates, but all of those matches were held at Wembley. The Gunners would need to win the league (or host a European final) to lift a trophy at their home ground.