Stan Petrov has retired from football in order to fight his battle with acute leukaemia.
The former Celtic midfielder watched Aston Villa lose at home to Chelsea tonight before undergoing treatment in London.
Neil Lennon was in contact with his former team-mate this morning with the Bulgarian moved by the messages of support he’s received from throughout football.
“Football is over, this is the end,’” he told Bulgarian daily newspaper Tema Sport. “I am now beginning to fight for my life and I will fight.”
Explaining the timetable of the last week he added: “I lost my energy early in the second half (of last week’s match at Arsenal) and it was very unusual for me.
“But this is life, you see we drank a coffee in London a week ago and now we’re talking about things like this.
“I’ll fight, it’s clear and I also would like to thank everyone for the support from all around the world.”
A fortnight ago the football community was shocked by the sight of Bolton’s Fabrice Muamba falling to the turf against Tottenham and suffering a cardiac arrest.
Petrov has followed Muamba’s recovery and is drawing strength from the Bolton midfielder.
He added: “I saw the picture released yesterday by Fabrice Muamba, my fellow player, and it has inspired me as has all of the support in the past 24 hours.
“For me, football will have to take a back seat for a while, but I’m here to support my team-mates today and I will continue to support them as I know they will support me. Thank you to everyone.”
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Petrov’s goal in the 6-2 game is one of my fondest memories. The emotion he showed after scoring, still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
GWS Stan.