Wonderful stuff from the Celtic and Villa icon.
Football is a game where loyalties are divided and passions can run high but there are a select bunch of players that can command the utmost respect from fans, regardless of who they support.
During his playing days, Stiliyan Petrov was an incredibly well-liked and admired footballer and this status was only enhanced after his recent battle with cancer.
This footage from his charity game still gets us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKEbEjrXIhs
You may remember a few months ago when we told you that the darling of the Holte End made a successful return to football.
The Bulgarian recently played and scored in the Central Warwickshire Over-35s Premier Division One Cup Final for Wychall Wanderers.
Our favourite post-match quote from him was, “It has been a difficult road, but having this trophy makes me smile again. I’m like a little kid winning his first cup”.
He spoke to The Mirror about the match and the experience of playing again, saying:
“It will go next to my UEFA Cup medal – every medal is valuable through my career and this will definitely go there. But it is more valuable than everything else – it is priceless. People may ask, ‘Why are you saying that?’ But I am satisfied. After my treatment people told me I can’t play football again, but now I can kick a ball again – even at this level and win something like this. I am still beside my family and I have managed to play nearly 90 minutes and win a cup. It is great.”
Here he is posing with his sons and the trophy.
Happy boys 😃❤️🏆🎉😘 pic.twitter.com/n0ECWGbbhK
— Stiliyan Petrov (@StanPetrov19) April 9, 2015
