Community Shield Football

Oh god. Is it that time already? It’s hard to contemplate the dawning of another football season without a certain melancholy, particularly when we’re having a proper summer for once and there’s an Ashes series in progress. Still, this football season will end with a World Cup which is always exciting. And there’s plenty of intrigue surrounding both this game and the new season.

Let’s start with Wigan. As the first team to win the FA Cup and suffer the misery of relegation in the same season, today will mark a last taste of the big time before the battle to return to the top flight gets underway. With Owen Coyle replacing Roberto Martinez in the manager’s office, they might have their work cut out. However, as you may have heard, there have been bench-warming changes at Man Utd too with this game marking David Moyes’s first game in charge of Man City’s noisy neighbours. No pressure, David but Roy Keane will be among the former Fergie acolytes growling from the sidelines.