BT Sport to screen #19 legends match at Celtic Park

BT Sport will show exclusively live coverage of a legends’ charity match at Celtic Park to celebrate the career of former player Stiliyan Petrov. The midfield dynamo, 34, who retired from playing earlier this year after battling leukaemia, will take to the field to captain a Stiliyan XI against a Celtic XI. Former teammates at Celtic and Aston Villa, including Henrik Larsson and Gareth Barry, will play.

The match will be shown live on BT Sport 2 on Sunday, starting at 1.30pm for a 2pm kick off. The full line-ups of legends will also include former players Lubo Moravcik and Chris Sutton, as well as celebrity fans such as Boardwalk Empire’s Stevie Graham and One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson.

The match will raise funds for Celtic’s charity, which will soon be relaunched as Celtic FC Foundation.  Stiliyan, known affectionately to fans as ‘Stan’, is in the process of setting up his own charitable foundation to help others cope with leukaemia. Another prominent beneficiary will be the Trussell Trust, that runs food banks in Glasgow and across the UK.

Simon Green, head of BT Sport, says: “We are naturally delighted to be screening this charity match on BT Sport. It promises to be a great occasion to honour a true Celtic legend. Stan has inspired people with his courageous fight against leukaemia which showed the determination and character that marked his career for Celtic and also for Aston Villa, where he is still fondly remembered as a player and is now assistant coach of their under 21 team.”