Revealed: What Arshavin had on his T shirt and why he is in trouble

By 1970’s Gooner

What a fantastic goal scored by Andrei Arshavin against Barcelona. He usually celebrates with his finger on his lips, but not on this occasion. Well not in the usual way…

When he lifted his Arsenal shirt he revealed another T shirt underneath which had the logo of his own cloths brand "Andrei Arshavin." In this picture he does actually have his finger at his lips!

Andrei has obviously not been receiving good advice as he probably will find himself in trouble with the authorities. This sort of commercial promotion is of course not allowed and he could potentially receive a caution from UEFA.

Lionel Messi himself, not so long ago, received a retroactive yellow card from the Spain FA when his T shirt underneath said "Happy Birthday, Mom!"

When Andrei was asked about his T shirt in the Russian media yesterday after his goal against Barcelona he did not want to elaborate. He said:

‘I would rather not talk about it’

Andrei launched his own clothes brand in St. Petersburg in June last year. He developed the idea of creating his own brand as he fought against counterfeited goods being sold under his name.

“I hope my soccer activities will help to promote the brand,” Arshavin was then quoted. “I will take part in the project, but soccer will remain in first place until the end of my career.”

Arshavin said that he hoped to further expand the range of goods being produced under his brand in the future, but added that no alcohol or cigarettes would be produced in his name.

The designs are casual style and include three lines — children’s clothing, young fashion and classic clothing for men.

The logo for the new brand features a black-and-white silhouette of Arshavin holding his forefinger to his lips — the gesture that the soccer player makes when celebrating his goals.

Andrei is known of course to have a double life as a designer of women’s clothes.


He comes from a working-class family in St Petersburg and enrolled in the St Petersburg State University of Technology and Design aged 17, originally studying chemical technology, but taking up sewing because of the number of women on the course.

He showed a flair for design and began making clothes. A number of his early pieces are held in the institute’s museum.