The Toughest Fight, The Biggest Victory

Stiliyan Petrov’s life took a dramatic turn for the worse when he was diagnosed with leukaemia, but the Celtic legend has fought a brave and successful battle with the illness

- Martin Dalziel

ROM tentative beginnings when he signed for Celtic in 1999, Stiliyan Petrov emerged as a major midfield talent under Martin O’Neill, becoming an integral part of the Hoops’ domestic dominance and re-emergence as a European force.

While the Irishman left Celtic in 2005, Petrov remained at Celtic for another year, playing his part in Gordon Strachan’s first season as manager, which saw the league title and the League Cup won.

At the end of August 2006, after seven years at the club and having made a total 268 appearances for the Hoops, scoring 64 goals, he moved to England, signing for Aston Villa and being reunited with O’Neill, who had taken over as manager at Villa Park earlier that month.

While it might have taken him time to settle into life down south, he did emerge as an important player for Villa, eventually taking over as captain, and remained integral to the side, even after O’Neill left in 2010.

Two years, later, however, came the devastating news that Stiliyan Petrov had been diagnosed with acute leukaemia.

It was the biggest battle he faced, not of his career, but of his life, as he explained on the Graham Hunter podcast, The Big Interview, but he did so with the living support of his family, friends and the entire football world…

LIFE WITH LEUKAEMIA

I went to a different life, being diagnosed with leukaemia. I had no immune system at all. I was given the news and at that time I wasn’t nervous, I was scared, fragile and confused. I didn’t have that much knowledge of what I had to go through, what I’d been diagnosed with, what I needed to deal with and how much that would change my life altogether.