Another day, another reason to congratulate the phenomenal Leo Messi. The Barcelona forward has been named winner of the ESM Golden Shoe for his staggering record tally of 50 league goals in 2011-12.

Messi finished four goals clear of last year's winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, to claim the second ESM Golden Shoe award of his career. Messi appeared in all but one of Barcelona's 38 league games this season, scoring six hat-tricks and notching two four-goal hauls. The Argentinian, who previously won the Golden Shoe in 2009/10 with 34 goals, has scored a remarkable 72 goals in all competitions this season.

Despite scoring six more goals than his winning tally of 40 last season, Real Madrid's Ronaldo has had to settle for 2nd place. And to round off a top three of Icons, Arsenal's Robin van Persie came in at 3rd with 30 goals. Manchester United Icon Wayne Rooney, meanwhile, finished 6th with his 27 strikes.

ESM Golden Shoe standings

1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 50 x 2 = 100
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 46 x 2 = 92
3. Robin van Persie (Arsenal) 30 x 2 = 60
4. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke) 29 x 2 = 58
5. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan) 28 x 2 = 56
6. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) 27 x 2 = 54
7. Mario Gomez (Bayern München) 26 x 2 = 52
8. Bas Dost (Heerenveen) 32 x 1.5 = 48
8= Falcao (Atletico Madrid) 24 x 2 = 48
8= Diego Milito (Inter Milan) 24 x 2 = 48
8= Burak Yilmaz (Trabzonspor) 32 x 1.5 = 48

Rules

Only the leading five countries – Spain, Italy, Germany, France and England – in the UEFA rankings have two as their multiplier. This is to emphasise the difference in (international) performance level between clubs from those countries and those of other nations.

A player cannot play first in a summer league (e.g. Norway) and then in a winter league (e.g. Spain) and combine the points totals for each season.

---

Follow Icons on Twitter @icons_football

Congratulations to Arsenal captain Robin van Persie who has deservedly been named PFA Player of the Year for his scintillating performances this season.

Van Persie has scored a stunning 34 goals in 2011-12 to save Arsenal's season and take them to 3rd in the Premier League. The Dutch master and Gunners captain is now the seventh Icon in a row to win the prestigious award, after John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Cristiano Ronaldo (twice!), Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and last season's winner Gareth Bale.

We are proud to be home to the world's best players, and to have a fantastic, limited-edition range of products adorned with Van Persie's beautiful signature.

We have his trademark adidas boots which you can have framed with either an Arsenal or Holland background. We also have superb photos of him in action for Holland, and one remaining framed photo of him celebrating at the Emirates. To view our full Van Persie range, click here.

Below you can see Robin signing for Icons back in November 2011. Long may our relationship continue!

---

Follow Icons on Twitter @icons_football

Have you ever wondered what happens when Icons meet the world’s best players? Or fancied an inside look at one of our private signings? Well good news! We're now offering you a sneak peek into our exciting football world...

Our shiny new Flickr page features exclusive, previously unseen photos from our recent signing sessions with superstars like Leo Messi, Andrés Iniesta, Cristiano Ronaldo and Robin Van Persie. We travel all around the world to meet with our Icons, and now we want to show you the photos to prove it.

So if you want definitive proof of the authenticity of our signatures, or you just want to see Arsenal's Robin Van Persie wearing a Mickey Mouse t-shirt, then head on over to Flickr now and have a look for yourself.

---

Follow Icons on Twitter @icons_football