Stiliyan Petrov

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Stiliyan Petrov
Personal information
Full name	Stiliyan Alyoshev Petrov-Stenly
Date of birth	July 5, 1979 (1979-07-05) (age 28)
Place of birth	Montana, Bulgaria
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position	central midfielder
Club information
Current club	Aston Villa
Number	19
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1998–1999 1999–2006 2006–	CSKA Sofia Celtic Aston Villa	038 0(3) 228 (55) 058 0(3)
National team2
1998-	Bulgaria	072 0(7)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 April 2008 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 12:00, 30 August 2006 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Stiliyan Alyoshev Petrov-Stenly (sometimes transliterated 'Stilian') (Bulgarian: Стилиян Петров) (born July 5, 1979 in Montana) is a Bulgarian football player who currently plays for Aston Villa in the Premier League. He joined Aston Villa from Scottish Premier League club Celtic on August 30, 2006.

Petrov had become known for his solid performances in midfield for both Celtic and Bulgaria. He captained the national team at Euro 2004 where he was sent off during a match against Denmark. He has appeared over 70 times for his country.

In 2005 Petrov wrote his autobiography with the assistance of Sunday Mail sports journalist Mark Guidi entitled You Can Call Me Stan, in reference to his nickname "Stan", a shortened form of his given name. In the book, he describes how "Stiliyan" is the correct spelling, rather than "Stilian", as it is normally spelled in the press.

[edit] Aston Villa

In April 2006 Celtic rejected a written transfer request submitted by Petrov, he was then linked with a transfer to move to Aston Villa who are managed by former Celtic boss Martin O'Neill. On August 30, Petrov completed his move to Villa Park on a four-year deal worth £6.5million, a fee which could rise to £8million in the future. His debut was against West Ham United on September 10. The game finished 1-1. Petrov in 2007 changed shirt number from 11 to 19.

Petrov scored his first Villa goal in a 2-2 draw against Sheffield United on December 11, 2006, but has yet to show his best form for the club. ^[1]

He scored a magnificent goal from the halfway line against already relegated Derby County on April 12th, 2008. This was his first goal of the season and Villa won 6-0. This goal was marked as a possible candidate for "goal of the season".

[edit] International career

On October 12, 2006 Petrov, then captain of Bulgaria, announced his decision to retire from international football at the age of 27 as long as Hristo Stoichkov manages the Bulgaria national team. ^[2] However, on March 20, 2007 he made himself available for selection again. ^[3] But he did not recover his position as national captain because Dimitar Berbatov remained in this position. He also has a grandfather whom is of Pakistani descent, but the majority of his ethnic background is of course Bulgarian.

[edit] External links

• Stiliyan Petrov career stats at Soccerbase
• Aston Villa Official Website Profile
• FootballDatabase provides Stilian Petrov's profile and stats
• Stilian Petrov Player Profile from Carling

[edit] References

1. ^ uefa.com - UEFA EURO 2008 - News - News Specific
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ Стилиян се завръща в националния | Sport 1 - Спортният сайт на България

Awards
Preceded by Kenny Miller	Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year 2001	Succeeded by Kevin McNaughton
Preceded by Dimitar Berbatov	Bulgarian Footballer of the Year 2003	Succeeded by Dimitar Berbatov

v • d • e Bulgaria squad - UEFA Euro 2004 1 Zdravkov • 2 Ivanov • 3 Kirilov • 4 Ivaylo Petkov • 5 Zagorčić • 6 Kotev • 7 Borimirov • 8 Milen Petkov • 9 Berbatov • 10 Dimitrov • 11 Lazarov • 12 Kolev • 13 Peev • 14 Chilikov • 15 Hristov • 16 Manchev • 17 M. Petrov • 18 Pažin • 19 S. Petrov • 20 Bojinov • 21 Janković • 22 Stoyanov • 23 Ivankov • Coach: Markov