Sheriff of London Charity Shield

The Sheriff of London Charity Shield was an English football competition played once a year between the best amateur and best professional side in England.

The first game was played on March 19 1898, after being devised by Sir Thomas Dewar. Proceeds from the annual game were distributed to hospitals and charities.

The competition was short-lived due, in part, to the dominance of the professional sides, and also to a rift in the Football Association which saw the creation of the Amateur Football Association. The shield was ceased in 1907 - although the charitable spirit of the trophy was to continue on in the Charity Shield; it was twice resurrected since, once in the 1930s and the other in the 1960s.

The Shield itself, commissioned by Dewar, was over six feet high - the largest trophy to be competed for in the history of football. In the 1980s the trophy was put up for auction and sold for £26,000 to a private American owner. Its current whereabouts are unknown.

List of champions

First incarnation

* 1898 Corinthian & Sheffield United shared
* 1899 Aston Villa & Glasgow side Queens Park shared
* 1900 Corinthian
* 1901 Aston Villa
* 1902 Tottenham Hotspur
* 1903 Sunderland
* 1904 Corinthian
* 1905 The Wednesday
* 1906 Liverpool
* 1907 Newcastle United

econd incarnation

* 1931 Arsenal
* 1932 "Not contested"
* 1933 Arsenal
* 1934 Tottenham Hotspur

Third incarnation

* 1965 Arsenal
* 1966 Arsenal

References

*Sunderland A.F.C - The Official History, John Hudson, 1999

External links

* [http://www.rsssf.com/tablese/engsupcuphist.html Sheriff of London (Dewar) Charity Shield]