Stiliyan Petrov

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Personal information
Stiliyan Petrov

Full name	Stiliyan Petrov
Date of birth	July 5, 1979
Place of birth	Sofia, Bulgaria
Height	5'11" / 1.80 m
Nickname	Stan
Position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Aston Villa
Number	11
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1998-1999 1999-2006 2006-	CSKA Sofia Celtic Aston Villa	38 (3) 234 (60) 7 (0)
National team**
1998-2006	Bulgaria	63 (7)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:32, 5 November 2006 (UTC). ** National team caps and goals correct as of August 30, 2006.

Stiliyan 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 surprising decision to retire from international football at the age of 27 as long as Hristo Stoichkov manages the Bulgaria national team.[1][2]

[edit] References

You Can Call Me Stan: The Stiliyan Petrov Story, Petrov's autobiography, ISBN 1-845-96121-8.

[edit] External links

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

Aston Villa F.C. - Current Squad
1 Sørensen \| 2 Delaney \| 3 Samuel \| 4 Mellberg \| 5 Laursen \| 6 Barry \| 8 McCann \| 9 Ángel \| 10 Baroš \| 11 Petrov \| 12 Davis \| 13 Taylor \| 14 Djemba-Djemba \| 15 Agbonlahor \| 16 Bouma \| 17 Whittingham \| 18 Hughes \| 19 Ridgewell \| 20 Sutton \| 21 Cahill \| 22 Moore \| 23 Berger \| 25 Olejnik \| 26 Gardner \| 27 Osbourne \| 31 Agathe \| Manager: O'Neill