Arsenal and West Ham express interest in hosting Community Shield

Arsenal and West Ham are among a number of clubs to have expressed an interest in hosting the 2022 Community Shield.

The traditional curtain-raiser to the season usually takes place at Wembley, but UEFA will have control of the national stadium this summer for the final of the Women’s Euros.

With dates for the 2022/23 campaign shuffled in the calendar to accommodate the World Cup in Qatar during the winter, the season will begin earlier, with the Community Shield slated for the weekend of July 30/31.

The Women’s Euros final takes place on the Sunday, with Sarina Wiegman’s England hopeful of being involved.

That means an alternative venue will in all likelihood be required for the Community Shield, which pits the Premier League champions against the FA Cup winners.

The PA news agency understands both Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and the London Stadium – where West Ham play their home matches – are in the running.

Since the new Wembley hosted its first Community Shield in 2007 it has only once before moved to a different venue, with Villa Park the location for Manchester City’s 3-2 win over Chelsea in 2012 – as Wembley was in use for the London Olympics football tournaments.

It is believed there is a long list of stadiums showing an interest in hosting this year’s match.

Arsenal are understood to be planning their own traditional pre-season tournament – the Emirates Cup – but the previously two-day event could once again be reduced to one to accommodate the Community Shield, with no women’s match taking place due to the ongoing Euros.

West Ham do not own the London Stadium, but it is believed the London Legacy Development Corporation are interested in hosting the Community Shield at the former Olympic Stadium.

If a London-based final is decided upon by the Football Association, Tottenham’s new stadium will not be considered due to a clash with a Lady Gaga concert.

Villa Park could once again step in but it appears unlikely Manchester United’s Old Trafford or Molineux – where England play two Nations League matches in June and the Lionesses have also appeared recently – will be in the running.