Stiliyan Petrov

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Personal information
Stiliyan Petrov
Full name	Stiliyan Petrov
Date of birth	July 5, 1979 (age 27)
Place of birth	Montana, Bulgaria
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
Nickname	Stan
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Aston Villa
Number	11
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1998-1999 1999-2006 2006-	CSKA Sofia Celtic Aston Villa	038 0(3) 228 (55) 021 0(1)
National team²
1998-	Bulgaria	68 (7)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:45, 19 February 2007 (UTC). ² National team caps and goals correct as of August 30, 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Stiliyan Petrov (sometimes spelt Stilian Petrov) (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 in August 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 60 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.

On April 21, 2006, Celtic rejected a written transfer request submitted by Petrov, he was then linked with a transfer to move to Aston Villa.

On August 30, 2006 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 10 September. The game finished 1-1.

On 12 October 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. [1] However, on 20 March 2007 he made himself available for selection again.^{[citation needed]}

Petrov scored his first Villa goal in a 2-2 draw against Sheffield United on Monday 11th December 2006. [2]

[edit] External links

Preceded by Kenny Miller	Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year 2001	Succeeded by Kevin McNaughton

	Bulgaria squad - 2004 Euro Cup
1 Zdravkov \| 2 V. Ivanov \| 3 Kirilov \| 4 I. Petkov \| 5 Zagorćić \| 6 Kotev \| 7 Borimirov \| 8 M. Petkov \| 9 Berbatov \| 10 V. 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

Aston Villa F.C. - Current Squad
1 Sørensen \| 2 Delaney \| 3 Samuel \| 4 Mellberg \| 5 Laursen \| 6 Barry \| 8 McCann \| 9 Ángel \| 10 Carew \| 11 Petrov \| 12 Davis \| 13 Taylor \| 15 Agbonlahor \| 16 Bouma \| 17 Young \| 18 Hughes \| 19 Ridgewell \| 20 Sutton \| 21 Cahill \| 22 Moore \| 23 Berger \| 24 Bardsley \| 25 Olejnik \| 26 Gardner \| 27 Osbourne \| 28 Maloney \| 29 O'Halloran \| Manager: O'Neill