#3 Stiliyan Petrov
Stiliyan Petrov joined Aston Villa in 2006 from Scottish champions Celtic. He soon became a vital cog in Martin O’Neill’s side as the Birmingham-based side hovered just below the top four in the Premier League.
Petrov was arguably one of Europe’s best in his position. At 32 years of age, he had already amassed 105 caps for Bulgaria and could boast of 13 major honors in his trophy cabinet. During his time in England, he transformed from a dynamic player who scored 62 league goals over 7 seasons in Scotland to the more tactically sound player in an impressive Villa side.
All this changed in March 2012 when, following a 3-0 defeat to Arsenal, Petrov developed a fever. A simple blood test two days following the match showed he was diagnosed with acute leukaemia, specifically Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL).
Fifty-one months after the diagnosis was made Petrov has fought his way back spectacularly and returned to pre-season training with Villa this June Petrov has won many midfield battles on the pitch but what will inspire generations of people is this battle that he has won against Leukemia off the pitch.
To the astonishment of many, the Bulgarian legend joined Villa for pre-season training earlier this month.
