Whilst the 2025 edition will officially see the tenth year of the Charity Shield, the clash between League Champions Gungahlin United and Cup Winners O’Connor Knights will in fact be the ninth time that the Canberra football community has united for the pre-season get-together instigated back in the 2016 season.
With the Shield not contested in 2020, pesky COVID saw to that, the regular, and now we can say traditional, season curtain-raiser has certainly grown since its formative roots. The weekend now contains the Women’s Charity Shield, League Champions versus Federation Cup Winners, plus events in the Boys and Girls Youth.
The Men’s event will see O’Connor Knights seek to reclaim the Shield won at Deakin Stadium last season, a piece of silverware secured with a 2-0 win over Canberra Croatia, a feat which should they achieve will match that of Canberra Olympic in 2017 and 2018 and Canberra Croatia in 2019 and 2021 (Covid put paid to the 2020 edition).
Standing in their way are Gungahlin United, making their third appearance in the event having previously been defeated twice by Canberra Croatia, 4-1 in the inaugural 2016 edition, and then again by the same opponents 2-1 in the 2019 edition.
The Shield hasn’t been much of a guide to the season in the men’s NPL, only once has a team won the competition gone on to secure top spot in the following league campaign, that being Canberra Olympic in 2017, but both of these contenders will be seeking to upset that trend.
In the Women’s Charity Shield we welcome back two regulars to combat for the trophy as Canberra Olympic and Belconnen United lock horns in the pre-season clash for the second year in succession.
Indeed, this is Olympic’s third visit to the Shield in three years, with one loss in 2023 (0-1 to Canberra Croatia) followed by the 2-1 success over the Blue Devils some twelve months further down the track.
When you have scooped three of the four major trophies on offer during a campaign, there is only one thing to aim for the following year, a clean sweep.
Only the Federation Cup was missing from the bulging Canberra Olympic trophy cabinet last season, a glaring omission that Frank Cachia, now in his second year at the helm of the club, and his team will be keen to amend.
Meanwhile, there’s more than a sense of unfinished business for Belconnen United as they head into the new season, aiming to go one better and grab top spot in the League Championship table, and grab Grand Final glory.
Last year saw the Blue Devils second best to Olympic in three of the four trophies on offer, success in the Federation Cup their only solace. While the pre-season match won’t be conclusive proof, the winners will head into 2025 with a psychological blow under their belts.
FIXTURES
SUNDAY 16 MARCH
Football Charity Shield
(Melrose Synthetic)
9:30am – U17 Girls: Belconnen United v Majura FC
11:45am – U18 Boys: Canberra Croatia v Canberra Olympic
2.15pm – Women’s: Canberra Olympic v Belconnen United
5.15pm – Men’s: Gungahlin United v O’Connor Knights
ADMISSION: GOLD COIN DONATION
SOUVENIR PROGRAM: GOLD COIN DONATION
