Only two players have scored a hat-trick in the post-war history of The Shield.
By David Barber. Tuesday, 05 August 2008.
Manchester United v Portsmouth
The FA Community Shield sponsored by McDonald's 2008
3pm, Sunday 10 August 2008
Wembley Stadium
Live on Setanta, highlights on ITV
Eric Cantona and Tommy Taylor are Manchester United legends. One specific thing that they also have in common is that they have both scored a hat-trick in The FA Charity Shield - now "The FA Community Shield".
In fact, they are the only two players to achieve the feat in the post-war history of The Shield.
Cantona aka "The Magnificent 7" was actually with Leeds United when he got his. Howard Wilkinson's Leeds were the last Football League Champions when they edged FA Cup Winners Liverpool 4-3 in a Wembley thriller in 1992. Tony Dorigo was Leeds' other scorer and Ian Rush, Dean Saunders and a Gordon Strachan own-goal contributed to Liverpool's total. Later in the season Cantona switched to Manchester United.
Tommy Taylor, a "Busby Babe" from the 1950s, notched an impressive 16 goals in 19 matches for England before tragically losing his life at Munich in 1958. His Charity Shield hat-trick came in the previous year as League Champions United humbled Cup winners Aston Villa 4-0. Johnny Berry scored United's other goal with a penalty.
In a pre-war Shield match, in 1932, Dixie Dean's four-goal haul for Everton helped them to beat Newcastle United 5-3.
But with only one hat-trick in the last half-century, The Shield might be due another one on Sunday...