Cole Palmer’s shiver celebration has quickly become one of football’s most recognisable gestures, a folded-arms, icy-calm pose that fans now associate almost instantly with Chelsea’s rising star.
But while Palmer has successfully trademarked the celebration and begun building a commercial identity around it, the debate over who the “Cold” celebration truly belongs to is far from settled.
In fact, several footballers and even athletes from other sports claim to have done it first.
The conversation resurfaced after Palmer’s motion-mark trademark was officially approved by the UK Intellectual Property Office.
The registration gives him exclusive commercial rights to the gesture in adverts, merchandise, branding, and even video games, meaning companies like EA Sports FC would now require his permission to use the celebration.
But the decision also reignited a question many fans have been asking for months: Is the shiver truly Palmer’s original creation?
Morgan Rogers certainly doesn’t think so. The Aston Villa forward and former Manchester City academy teammate of Palmer insists he performed the celebration first.
A week before Palmer’s December 2023 debut of the gesture at Kenilworth Road, Rogers had celebrated with the same folded-arm shiver in a Middlesbrough match.
He has repeated in several interviews that Palmer “definitely copied” him, joking that the timeline proves the move originated from him.
Villa themselves even leaned into the banter, posting an image of Rogers doing the celebration with the caption “trademark” in a playful jab at Palmer.
But Rogers isn’t the only player who feels the celebration predates Chelsea’s star. Valencia’s Diego López has also claimed the celebration.
“I haven’t received the receipt yet,” he joked in an interview earlier this year, suggesting he had long used the celebration before it reached Premier League spotlight.
And beyond football, several athletes in other sports, most notably the NBA’s Trae Young, known as “Ice Trae” have incorporated the shiver pose into their trademark moments for years.
Even globally recognised football icons have ventured into celebration ownership. Kylian Mbappé’s folded-arms pose is trademarked. Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous “Siuuu,” Gareth Bale’s heart-hands, and Erling Haaland’s yoga pose are all registered marks.
Compared to theirs, Palmer’s decision to trademark his gesture fits into a growing trend: players treating celebrations not just as expressions of emotion but as brand assets.
Yet legally, none of the origin stories matter. Trademark law is clear: ownership belongs not to the person who first created the gesture, but to the person who registers it.
Intellectual property experts say that unless someone else had previously trademarked the shiver or opposed Palmer’s application, the Chelsea forward was free to claim the rights, regardless of who did it first on a pitch somewhere.
So, while the debate over who invented the “Cold” celebration might continue in dressing rooms and social-media comment sections, only one answer holds up in the world of trademarks: Cole Palmer owns it.
The rest, the banter, the bragging rights, and the claims of who came before simply add more flavour to one of football’s most entertaining celebration mysteries.
FKA/JE
