Stiliyan Petrov

At 44 years old, Stiliyan Petrov has this physical status:

Stiliyan Alyoshev Petrov (born 5 July 1979) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who competed as a midfielder.

Petrov joined Celtic in 1999 and gained ten trophies in his time at Celtic Park, including four Scottish Premier League titles.

He and his former boss Martin O'Neill moved to Aston Villa in the Premier League in 2006, alongside his former manager Martin O'Neill.

Petrov was the club captain at Villa Park and was a member of the Aston Villa Hall of Fame in 2013.

In addition, he is Bulgaria's all-capped player with 105 appearances for the team. Petrov was diagnosed with acute leukaemia in March 2012, halted his football career to receive medical attention that was later successful.

He announced his retirement from football in May 2013 but began looking for a new team three years ago.

Petrov trained with former club Aston Villa in the summer of 2016.

He appeared in pre-season games, but was not given a playing contract by boss Roberto Di Matteo.

Personal life

Petrov wrote his autobiography in 2005 with the support of Sunday Mail sports reporter Mark Guidi, who wrote "Stan," a short version of his given name. He explains in the book how "Stiliyan" is the correct word rather than "Stilian" as it is often mispelled in the press. Stiliyan is married to his wife Paulina and the two children, Kristiyan and Stiliyan Jr., are married.

Petrov was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia on March 30, 2012. Following Petrov's 3–0 loss to Arsenal, the condition was confirmed following laboratory findings. Petrov told Bulgarian reporters that he intended to leave club and international football; his agent later denied any reports of resignation: "It is not true that Stiliyan has announced that he is resigning from football." He did say he was fighting for his life and that he would fight to recover." He came to Villa Park for the match against Chelsea and the crowd erupted in the 19th minute because of his shirt, which earned him an ovation. Fans, as well as home and away fans, rehearsed the ovation at every Villa game this season.

Petrov will continue to be Aston Villa's club captain for the 2012–13 season, according to Paul Lambert on June 10, 2012. Ron Vlaar, a Dutch defender, took over the team captaincy in his absence. Petrov visited his colleagues on the first day of their pre-season training on his 33rd birthday and was given a cake by the players, who sang happy birthday to him and gave him a round of applause.

Petrov's leukaemia was in remission on August 2nd, 2012, according to the newspaper.

Petrov announced his retirement from football on May 9, 2013, led his family out on a lap of honour at Villa Park to applaud the Villa fans who aided him during his illness on the final day of the 2012–2013 season.

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Club career

Petrov, a Montana boy, began playing football for the local team FC Montana. He was discovered by scout and coach Dimitar Penev and signed with CSKA Sofia for €30,000. He competed in 1997 and 1999 with his new club, the Bulgarian Championship.

Petrov was sold by John Barnes in the summer of 1999 for £2.8 million. The adolescent played prominently in Celtic's second major league appearance and first with Celtic in a season of many. Despite the season's good start, Petrov had a rough start to the club. He was sick and lonely at the start of the year, and he couldn't speak English. The manager played him out of place at right back, which made it all worse. He improved his English by working in a friend's burger van, which eventually led to his improvement. In his performances for the club, this hard work and determination to fit in showed.

He had a fruitful first season with Celtic and spent 7 league goals in 28 appearances, one of which was in Celtic's 6–2 victory over Rangers. He was also the first foreign player to win the SPFA Young Player of the Year award. However, he missed the end of the season after breaking his leg in a league match against St Johnstone and then missed both the Scottish League Cup and Scottish Cup finals as a result.

Petrov returned from injury against Dunfermline Athletic in September and then came back to form for Celtic, winning his second SPL medal and getting his second SPL medal.

Petrov's good form in his fourth season with Celtic continued his good form and had been linked to some of Europe's top clubs, but after protracted contract talks, he signed a new deal with Celtic. In 50 appearances, this was his best-ever goalscoring season, with 14 scoring 14 times in 50 games. He also reached his first European final of his career, winning a runners' up medal in the Uefa Cup.

He continued to be a key player in Celtic's next two seasons, appearing 105 times and scoring 19 goals. He lifted the Scottish Cup twice in this lifetime (scoring in the 2004 final), as well as his third SPL medal. Martin O'Neill's last at Celtic was in 2005, although Stiliyan Petrov would later join him at Aston Villa. Petrov made history by winning the Celtic Player of The Year award for the third time in the 04/05 season.

Celtic's 2005-2006 season was a period of significant transition. Martin O'Neill, the club's most successful manager in 20 years, resigned, and new manager Gordon Strachan took over. Celtic lost 5–0 to Slovakian minnows Artmedia Bratislava in Strachan's first match. Celtic then managed to put away a 3–1 lead over Motherwell in their first league match 4–4, but Petrov later helped Celtic exact revenge against the Fir Park team by scoring his first hat-trick in a 5–0 demolition in October of that year. Celtic dominated the SPL and League Cup double after a rough start to the season by winning the SPL and League Cup double.

Celtic's 2005-06 season was his last at the Celtic Club, with former Celtic manager Martin O'Neill reuniting with Aston Villa for a £6.5 million increase to £8 million after clauses. This was following a long transfer story in which Stiliyan Petrov was linked to almost every mid-table position in England. Before leaving Celtic in the summer transfer window, he only made 3 appearances for the club.

Petrov made 312 appearances for Celtic over the course of seven years, scoring 55 goals. He won the SPL four times and also won both the Scottish and Scottish League Cup for three times each. When he left Celtic, he was the tenth most prolific goalscorer in the SPL (55 goals).

Celtic turned down Petrov's written transfer request in April 2006. He was then linked with a transfer to Aston Villa, who were formerly Celtic boss Martin O'Neill's team's Aston Villa. Petrov completed his move to Villa Park on a four-year contract worth £6.5 million, O'Neill's first signing for Villa. On September 10th, his debut was against West Ham United. The game was 1–1. Petrov's shirt number changed from 11 to 19. Petrov scored his first Villa goal against Sheffield United in a 2–2 draw on December 11, 2006, but the club's first two seasons saw him fail.

On May 12, 2008, he scored a volley from near the halfway line against Derby County, who had been relegated to Derby County. Villa defeated 6–0 on his first goal of the season. This goal was outlined as a potential candidate for "goal of the season." It was also reported to be the club's most out recorded goal since the club was established.

Petrov's form improved dramatically in the 2008–09 season, playing in Villa's six Premier League games in a row. He was named captain for the first time in the UEFA Cup against Bulgaria's Litex Lovech on October 2nd, 2008, and scored one of the game's goals.

Petrov was named both "Player of the Year" and "Player of the Year" for Aston Villa's fans in May 2009 and "Player of the Year" for the 2008–09 season, following his strong play in midfield throughout the season. He signed a new four-year contract on May 20th, 2009, extending his stay at the club until 2013.

Petrov said that leading a "long tradition and history" would be a "great honor" following captain Martin Laursen's departure. Petrov became the team's captain in the summer of 2009 and led the team to sixth position in the Premier League, the FA Cup semi-finals, and the final of the League Cup in his first season with the armband.

Following the appointment of Gérard Houllier as the club's manager, Petrov continued to maintain the Villa captaincy. In the 1–0 away loss at the Stadium of Light on October 23, he sustained a knee injury. Petrov returned to first team action on December 26, 2010, as a second-half substitute for Jonathan Hogg in the 2–1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur at Villa Park. Petrov made his 150th appearance in Aston Villa's second-half on Friday, beating Blackburn Rovers 4–1. Petrov scored his first goal of the season against Everton on September 10, 2011. Petrov played for Aston Villa in his 200th appearance in the Premier League against Sunderland on October 29th, scoring the first goal in a 2–2 draw.

Petrov announced his retirement from football on May 9, 2013 due to his leukaemia.

Footballers from Bulgaria's national team (including Hristo Stoichkov, Dimitar Berbatov, and Nasko Sirakov) won 4–2 against a select group that included Aston Villa veterans such as Mark Kinsella and Bryan Small in an exhibition game that was held at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia on May 26, 2013.

Petrov joined the Wychall Wanderers, a former Coventry City player who was coached by former Coventry City manager David Busst, in October 2014.

He returned to Aston Villa in March 2015 in a teaching role.

Petrov said in April 2016 that he was training with Villa's Under-21 team in the hopes of returning to the professional game. It was revealed in June that he would be training with the first team during Austria's pre-season tour, on a non-contractual basis. Petrov played his first game with the Aston Villa first team since his injury on July 9, 2016, winning by 8–0 in a friendly win over local Austrian team GAK.

International career

In a friendly match against Morocco on December 24, 1998, Stilyan Petrov made his debut as a 52nd minute replacement for Bulgaria. The match was held in Agadir, Morocco, and the North Africans won by 4–1 victory. In another friendly match against Belarus (4–1) on March 29, 2000, he scored his first goal (80th minute) for the national team.

He earned the Bulgarian Footballer of the Year award in 2003 while playing for Celtic and captained the national team in Euro 2004, which was kicked out during a match against Denmark.

Petrov, Bulgaria's former captain, announced his retirement from international football on October 12th, as long as Hristo Stoichkov's Bulgarian national team is being managed. On the other hand, he made amends with Hristo Stoichkov and made himself available for selection again on March 20, 2007. However, he did not recover his position as national captain because Dimitar Berbatov was determined that the captain's armband would be retained. Petrov placed second in Bulgaria's Player of the Year on January 14, 2010. Following Berbatov's departure from international football in 2010, Petrov was renamed captain of the Bulgarian team again. Petrov earned his 100th cap for Bulgaria in a 0–0 home draw with Switzerland in a Euro 2012 qualifier on March 26. Borisslav Mihaylov's flower bouquet was presented by the fans before the game began.

Petrov was named Bulgarian Footballer of the Year in 2003 by a popular blogger during his career. In 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, and 2011, he came second, and he came third in 2002 and 2006.

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