Every year, the men’s football season kicks off in August with the Community Shield, which is traditionally played the weekend before the Premier League season kicks off.
While it’s usually played at Wembley Stadium, this summer will be slightly different, with the match now set to move over to Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
And it’s all happening because of a superstar, and not the kind that graces the field with a ball at their feet. The Weeknd is taking over Wembley Stadium for a residency on his ‘After Hours ‘Til Dawn’ tour, with the dates clashing with the weekend the Community Shield is due to be held (August 15-16).
This scheduling is down to some adjustments in the Premier League calendar, which now means their first weekend is on August 22, and therefore means a clash has come up on the weekend before with The Weeknd and the Community Shield.
The Principality Stadium in Cardiff (which was previously known as the Millennium Stadium) is no stranger to hosting the Community Shield, though, having been home to the event between 2001 and 2006 while the ‘new’ Wembley Stadium was being built.
The Weeknd announced the extension of his record-breaking After Hours ’til Dawn tour in September last year, and for each UK show in this run, £1 will be donated to the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).
Who is playing in the Community Shield this year?
The two teams competing in the Community Shield are still totally dependent on how the end of this season plays out. Each year, the champions of the Premier League face the winners of the FA Cup in a friendly match for charity.
It’s looking likely that the winner of the Premier League will be one of Arsenal or Manchester City, though the FA Cup is currently only at the quarter-final stage, so it’s trickier to call who will be victorious here just yet.
If the winner of the Premier League and FA Cup ends up being the same, then the first and second-placed teams in the league will face each other.
When is The Weeknd playing in London?
In case you needed a reminder, The Weeknd will play London on the following days:
August 14 – London, Wembley Stadium
August 15 – London, Wembley Stadium
August 16 – London, Wembley Stadium
August 18 – London, Wembley Stadium
August 19 – London, Wembley Stadium
The Community Shield will take place at the Cardiff Principality Stadium on the weekend of August 15-16.