MOMS wanted to acknowledge and also make Villa fans aware of the great support of Stan that has swept through his native Bulgaria for the captain of their national football team.
MOMS asked Bulgarian Villa fan and MOMS member Atanas Kovachev to compile some highlights of what been’s happening in Bulgaria. I’d like to thank him for what I’m sure you’ll agree is an excellent round-up (and translation) of the tributes for Stan, with some great pictures and interesting insights.
(One thing MOMS will try to arrange with the club for any potential Aston Villa vs Celtic game in the future, is a certain allocation of tickets for any Bulgarian fans wanting to make the trip from Bulgaria to see the game.)
Meanwhile, back in Bulgaria….
By Atanas Kovachev (MOMS Bulgarian correspondent)
Below are some images from the past week in Bulgaria that show the support of Stiliyan Petrov’s native country to our captain. A facebook group with currently over 14,000 constantly discuss ideas to show our support to our Captain. The latest proposal is that every one hangs their Bulgarian flag or Stan’s shirt from their balcony on the 19th of April, and at exactly at 19:19, come out of their house and chant Stan’s name.
High school students have also sent a supportive letter to Stan and are currently organizing a football tournament between local schools in support of our Captain. Every football team supported the initiative started in UK with Aston Villa’s game at Villa Park to give Stan a standing ovation on the 19th minute of their previous match.
“Don’t give up, Captain! We are with you!” The away fans of Ludogorets (Razgrad) formed the number 19 during their match with PFK Levski and chanted Petrov’s name during the 19th minute
“You will come through! Stanly, we are with you!”
Before the match between PFK Levski (Sofia) and Ludogorets , half of the players came out on the pitch with Stan’s shirt from Aston Villa, while the other half with his Bulgarian National Team shirt.
“Bulgaria supports you Captain”
“Stiliyan we are with you! From the Bulgarian National Hockey Team”
At the match between PFK Levski and Ludogorets, the fans of PFK Levski had an enormous banner saying –“Stanley, Blue Bulgaria is with you”, although Petrov’s career actually started with their arch rivals PFK Levski – CSKA Sofia.
The scoreboard as shown on the 19th minute of the match between PFK Levski and Ludogorets. The referee stopped the match for 1 minute and all the fans applauded. Here Stan is shown in a blue jersey of PFK Levski, although he never played for the club. He started his career in CSKA Sofia, but he never not hid the fact that his favorite Bulgarian team was PFK Levski. Sometimes he comes to train with PFK Levski while he is in Bulgaria for National team duty.
Stan’s ex-club CSKA Sofia show their support with t-shirts “Stanley, we are with you” and a standing ovation on 19th minute of their last match.
”Stanley, Blagoevgrad is with you!” Banners with supportive messages for Stan are seen in every small town – hanging from bridges, balconies, flats, houses and posts.
And to finish with, an early picture of Stan during his days with his first club CSKA Sofia.
Some great images of support, I’m sure you’ll agree.
United in support of Stan , Bulgaria and villa and celtic stand as one
Quality…..