Head Space Daily Words...

My boys and me went to Aston Villa’s final home game of the season against Chelsea yesterday. A defining feature of Villa’s season has been the applause that has taken place during the nineteenth minute of every match in support of the club captain Stiliyan Petrov, who is suffering from acute Leukaemia and who wore the number nineteen shirt - hence the nineteenth minute (see Daily Image.) For that sixty seconds of each game, the supporters of both teams united in support and recognition of the fact that some things are more important than twenty two men kicking a ball around a piece of grass. I took my boys to watch Villa play against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on March 24^th 2012, in what was a nondescript, routine 3-0 win for the Gunners.  What we didn’t know at the time was that this would not only be Stan Petrov’s final game in a Villa shirt but his final game full stop. One moment you are the captain of a Premier League football team, the next your life is changed forever, diagnosed with a potentially fatal, rare form of cancer. As a supporter, you feel close to your team, so when that kind of news breaks, you are shocked by the brutality of life being changed in the blink of an eye - the thought of never knowing what is around the corner. The news had a galvanizing effect on Villa supporters. The nineteenth minute applause grew over time. The first time we experienced it personally, was away at Southampton and was a fairly mild round of applause but a few weeks later against Fulham at Craven Cottage, the applause and emotion was immense, beginning in the nineteenth minute, leading to five minutes of singing Stan’s name and continuing vocal support until half time. Football continually holds a mirror up to society and usually reflects back negativity - this season in the form of racism, police lies and incompetence, homophobia and one human being biting another – so it has been refreshing to see some humanity shine through in football stadia and that a shred of decency still remains, in an age of grossly overpaid, egotistical young football players who become ever more removed from the supporters. It is never pleasant to lose to Chelsea, which is what happened yesterday but the overriding sentiment had to rest with Stiliyan Petrov, whose dignity in the face of unimaginable adversity has been a lesson to us all. After the game, he led the squad around the pitch, with his two kids in tow, on what is now referred to as a lap of appreciation – there is no great honour in not yet being safe from relegation. Almost every supporter remained behind, the Holte End still packed to the rafters, to show their respect, gratitude and admiration to someone who has shown incredible strength, courage and determination. Petrov has always been aware, as a sportsman, of how lucky he is to have received a quick diagnosis and treatment and is now devoting himself to establishing a charity to raise funds and awareness of Leukaemia. I must say, I will miss the nineteenth minute round of applause next season but as Stiliyan says in his final programme notes as captain, “it will be hard to let go but in life everything and everybody must move on.” Too true mate, onwards and upwards…