Arsenal's invincible recent record in the Community Shield
Arsenal have won the Community Shield 17 times, a record bettered only by Manchester United, and they head into this year's fixture against Manchester City looking to add to a haul that has grown steadily busier over the last decade.
That consistency stretches back generations, but it's the modern era that has really cemented their reputation in this fixture. Anyone checking the Community Shield odds for this year's meeting is backing a club with one of the strongest recent records in the competition's history.
Arsenal's success in this fixture stretches back to the 1930s, but it's their form over the last 10 years that stands out most. Here's a look at their overall record, the results that stick out, and why they've become so difficult to beat in this particular fixture.
Second only to Manchester United
Arsenal's 17 titles put them just four behind Manchester United's all-time record of 21, and one ahead of Liverpool on 16. Sixteen of the Gunners’ wins came outright, with one shared title from 1991, when Arsenal and their North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur split the trophy after a goalless draw.
No side has faced Manchester City more often in Shield finals than Arsenal, who hold an 8-1 aggregate scoreline across their three meetings.
Best results and biggest wins
The pick of those City wins came in 2014, a 3-0 victory built on goals from Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud, Arsenal's biggest Shield win since beating Manchester United by the same margin back in 1998.
For those using the odds calculator to work out potential returns on this year's fixture, that kind of dominant scoreline shows just how one sided this meeting has often been in Arsenal's favour down the years.
Penalty shootout specialists
Three of Arsenal's last five Shield triumphs have been settled by penalties, including a 2020 win over Liverpool that finished 1-1 after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's goal, and the 2023 win over Manchester City that followed a dramatic Leandro Trossard equaliser in stoppage time.
Arsenal are only the second club, after Manchester United, to have won the Shield via shootout on more than one occasion, a record that speaks to their composure when the trophy comes down to spot kicks.
Top scorers and standout performers
Ralph Birkett and Ted Drake share the honour of Arsenal's leading Shield scorers with three goals apiece, both dating back to the club's dominant spell in the 1930s under Herbert Chapman and George Allison.
More recently, Cazorla, Ramsey and Giroud all found the net in that emphatic 2014 win, while Aubameyang has scored five goals in matches played at Wembley for the club, level with Alexis Sanchez as Arsenal's joint top scorer at the national stadium.
Five wins in a decade
Arsenal's 2023 win over Manchester City was their fifth Community Shield triumph in ten years, a return that few clubs in the competition's history can match over a comparable stretch.
Between the emphatic win in 2014, the 2015 victory over Chelsea, a penalty shootout success in 2017, and the wins over Liverpool and City either side of the pandemic, Arsenal have made the fixture something of a habit heading into the 2026-27 season. City will know exactly what kind of history they're up against this time around.
