Stiliyan Petrov, Berbatov Nominated for Bulgarian Footballer of 2012

Aston Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov (right) with his family. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Aston Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov has been nominated for the traditional Bulgarian Footballer of the Year award, it was made clear on Monday.

Petrov was diagnosed with leukaemia at the end of March in news that shocked the public in the UK and Bulgaria and mobilized the warm support of colleagues and fans across football teams and country borders. In a November interview, the Bulgarian midfielder thanked the Aston Villa fans for their support as he continues down the "long road" to beat acute leukaemia.

Fulham's in-form forward has been also nominated for the prestigious award.

The nominees aslo include Bulgarian internationals Vladimir Gadzhev (Levski Sofia), Ivan Ivanov (Partizan Belgrade), Nikolay Mihaylov (Twente), Stanislav Manolev (PSV Eindhoven), Emil Gargorov (Ludogorets Razgrad), Ivelin Popov (Rubin), Svetoslav Dyakov (Ludogorets Razgrad) and Georgi Milanov (Litex Lovech).

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