Music star’s tour: Why 2026 Community Shield is holding in Cardiff, not Wembley

The 2026 FA Community Shield between Arsenal and Manchester City will be played in Cardiff on Sunday, August 16, marking the first time in 20 years that the traditional curtain-raiser will return to the Welsh capital.

The fixture will take place at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium instead of its customary venue, Wembley Stadium.

According to the Premier League, the switch is because music star The Weeknd’s “After Hours Til Dawn” tour is scheduled to take place at Wembley on the same day as the Community Shield.

The Arsenal-Manchester City clash will therefore be only the third Community Shield played away from Wembley since the stadium reopened in 2007.

The Community Shield has been regularly staged at Wembley since 1974, although the fixture has moved to other venues on several occasions.

Between 2001 and 2006, the match was played at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, then known as the Millennium Stadium, while the new Wembley was undergoing construction.

The fixture returned to Wembley in 2007 and remained there for most editions, with only two exceptions before this year’s Cardiff return.

In 2012, Manchester City and Chelsea contested the Community Shield at Villa Park, the home of Aston Villa, because the Olympic Games were being held in London.

A decade later, the fixture was again moved away from Wembley.

In 2022, Manchester City faced Liverpool at Leicester City’s King Power Stadium because Wembley was hosting the Women’s European Championship final.

The 2026 edition will now take the competition back to Cardiff, where the Community Shield was staged for six consecutive years during Wembley’s redevelopment.

The Principality Stadium will consequently host Arsenal and Manchester City for the latest edition of a fixture that has travelled to several venues throughout its history.

Other venues that have hosted the Community Shield

While Wembley has been the traditional home of the Community Shield, the match has also been played at a number of other grounds, particularly during periods when the national stadium was unavailable.

Cardiff — Millennium Stadium/Principality Stadium: Hosted the Community Shield from 2001 to 2006 during the redevelopment of Wembley. It will host the fixture again in 2026.

Villa Park, Birmingham: Hosted the 2012 meeting between Manchester City and Chelsea because of the London Olympics.

King Power Stadium, Leicester: Hosted the 2022 contest between Manchester City and Liverpool while Wembley was being used for the Women’s European Championship final.

The 2026 return to Cardiff is therefore a significant break from the fixture’s recent Wembley tradition, with Arsenal and Manchester City set to provide the first Community Shield action at the Principality Stadium since 2006.