Ricardo Calafiori last played a game for Arsenal on 21st of December, against Everton. He had been sidelined for 3 games since then, due to a muscle injury which he picked up in their warmup against Brighton on 25th December. Yet he found a way to promote Arsenal, off the field, which fans were quick to notice in the most unexpected way.
With Arsenal’s long injury list, it was expected, they will struggle without their key men. But the Gunners have thrashed every obstacle in their way winning three games in a row, including the marquee table clash fixture against Aston Villa.
In their game against Bournemouth, Calafiori transported his support from his home. He had shared an Instagram story, capturing his TV, celebrating Declan Rice’s goal, with a caption “Yes ♥️♥️♥️”. But what caught the attention of people was rather a chessboard of unfamiliar looks.
Fans readily noticed the brilliance and beauty of the chess set.
The 8 Pawns on the front defence of a chess set were all Golden coloured customized as the Cannon, seen in Arsenal’s logo. Every other coin was designed unique and specific, some even having London based landmarks.
However, ardent Chess fans noted the errors in the formation.
The error was that, by rule, the bottom-right square should be a white square (light red in this case) from both the player’s perspective. In the photo shared by Calafiori, the far right end square was a darker square.
This denoted that the board was not set for play but left for casual showcase. A story uploaded to show his support turned an accidental promotion for Arsenal’s chess merchandise.
Arsenal have always been unique with their marketing.
This can be seen in their welcome posts for new players, where they are gifted a box of honey, specially extracted from Arsenal’s beehive in Sohba Realty TrainingCentre.
The recent awardee was sweedish footballer Smilla Holmberg, who was signed by Arsenal in the January transfer window this season. She received the honey jar along with her welcome kit, which has been a tradition that the club have followed since 2023. It is noted that there are 20 beehives at their London Colney training ground.
Calafiori might have kept the honey hiding somewhere waiting for the right moment to market it “accidentally”.
Nevertheless, the chess set was absolutely stunning and motivated every arsenal fan to buy it.
Hardcore arsenal fans were admired by the red themed chess set, immediately looking for e-commerce websites. Though they are on sale on one of them, grapevine tells us that these chess sets are given to people to who buy the executive box experience at the Emirates Stadium.
Following Calafiori’s accidental merchandise, fellow Arsenal players might try their own methods to subconsciously promote club possessions, no matter how corny, as the arsenal fans have eyes all over their players, noticing even the tiniest thing possible if it’s based on Arsenal.
