The entire capacity of Wembley Stadium for the Community Shield match between Leicester and Manchester City has been approved. Following an agreement reached on Thursday night between the Football Association and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the Premier League’s traditional curtain-raiser at the national stadium will be freely open to fans.
Despite a lessening of COVID limits across the country, all previous suggestions suggested that the game’s capacity would be limited. The game was supposed to be played in front of a 75% crowd, but talks to increase the capacity had been going on for a few weeks. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has officially given the FA permission to enable a full house at Wembley Stadium. It will be the first time Wembley Stadium has been packed since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Guardiola’s Man City had a greatly successful 2020-21 season, despite losing out on the UEFA Champions League final to Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea. The Spanish coach lifted his third Premier League title in four years as they virtually ran away with the title. Although they lost to Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final, they managed to win the EFL Cup after beating Tottenham Hotspur in the final.
Brendan Roger’s Leicester City also had a positive ending to the season, despite falling out of the top 4 on the last matchday. They beat Chelsea in the FA Cup final to win their first major trophy since 2016. Youri Tielemans scored a long ranger in the final to fetch them the title.
On Saturday, August 7, the match will take place at Wembley Stadium. If the scores are level after 90 minutes, there will be no extra time, and the match will be decided by a penalty shoot-out. Arsenal won the Community Shield last season, defeating Liverpool 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in normal time.
