Speaking to the Aston Villa official website during pre-season, midfielder Jack Grealish took a trip down memory lane to praise club legend Stiliyan Petrov who has always been a great captain.
Back in 2012 when Grealish was only 16-years-old, he was sitting on the bench for the club he supported growing up. The memory isn’t that important for just sitting on the bench, or even because it was against Premier League giants Chelsea.
24 hours prior to the game, Petrov announced his saddened news that he had been diagnosed with leukaemia.
Whilst warming up, the Villa players were wearing shirts with ‘Support Stan’ written across them, whilst West London side Chelsea warmed up with the message of ‘Our thoughts are with you’ written across their training tops.
Just before the game, Petrov decided to walk into the Villa dressing room and wish his team-mates good luck, whilst also offering Grealish some professional advice – just enjoy the game.
The comment from his captain is always something that sticks with the English international before any game, and that’s why he is now enjoying every moment of training with the captain.
I was so nervous that day but he came in the dressing room, came up to me and said ‘good luck.’
That sums him up. Some people wouldn’t have even been at the game after getting that bombshell. But what a story since then! It’s been unbelievable to see how far he has come. He’s a man who proves you can get through it. You can tell how much work he’s put in. He’s coping with the training fine. He’s certainly not struggling. You can see that touch of class. You never lose that touch and that vision. Maybe some people did have a few doubts but he’s been improving all the time. It’s now about him continuing to get fitter.
