'I could barely afford food on £300-a-week at Celtic and was miserable – but I became club icon'

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The former Celtic and Aston Villa midfielder moved for a significant fee in 1999 but says he ended up on a pitiful wage

Stiliyan Petrov says he struggled to afford his weekly shop on a measly £300-a-week wage at Celtic despite signing for £2.8million. The Bulgarian midfielder joined for a hefty fee but struggled during his first few months in Scotland before Martin O'Neill helped him turn a corner.

Petrov joined the Hoops from CSKA Sofia in 1999, agreeing a deal for just under £3m – which was an enormous fee at the time. However, the ex-Aston Villa star admitted his initial time at Celtic was full of financial issues that weren't fixed until O'Neill arrived one year later.

During an appearance on the All Out Football podcast with Laura Kirk-Francis and Gabby Agbonlahor, the 47-year-old revealed his struggles after joining the Scottish giants. When questioned on his wages compared to his signing fee, Petrov said: "Listen, at that time the money wasn't important for me. I was naive to move. It wasn't about the money for me. It was never about the money.

"Listen I could have left Celtic, I could have left Villa for a lot more money in different destinations. It was never about the money. It was about what you want to leave behind you. I've played for two great clubs. I've played with some incredible players and I won't change it."

Petrov's luck changed when O'Neill arrived, as he also struggled with fitting in as part of the team. When asked when his pay changed, he explained: "Six months after, Martin O'Neill took over. Obviously, I was celebrating John Barnes being sacked because I wasn't playing.

"I had a really difficult time. John never really put in any effort to help. I had a really difficult time for the first six months. Forget about bill issues, financial issues, forget about that. But the language barrier was a big problem for me because the dressing room was pushing me away. I wasn't talking to anyone. I wasn't communicating.

"Go to training, get changed, train back home. That was me for six months. I was trying, I was thinking how can I fit in? But you know when you're not in a conversation, when you don't know the people's problem, and I could see they were pushing me away.

"But then the change happened. John Barnes got sacked and Martin took over. He gave me six weeks to get fit and show him that I can play on that team. I had a really good pre-season and had to lose 10 kilos as well. That was a lot in the pre-season. All that not eating and training twice a day."

Highlighting the Celtic manager's handling of his "dodgy agent," Petrov added: "When he [O'Neill] was happy with the pre-season, with everything I've done, he called me and he went, 'I've looked at your contract. I'm giving you more money.'

"So I try to explain about the agent. He said, 'Forget about the agent. Forget about the agent. This I will offer you, are you happy [with it]?' So I went from £300-a-week to £2,500-a-week."

Petrov also recounted a time when his family visited from Bulgaria, and he had to wait for a game bonus to arrive in order to restock his fridge. Explaining how his family weren't aware of his situation, the ex-midfielder added: "The day [his family visited] I was expecting a bonus, a game bonus. So the day they landed in Scotland, I had about £65.

"I couldn't even do the shopping. I just couldn't face them. They never knew my issues, my problems. I wasn't ready to share that."

Petrov's luck eventually changed and he became a prolific figure in the early 2000s for Celtic. He won 10 trophies in Scotland, including four league titles and also reached the UEFA Cup final - now known as the Europa League - in the 2002/03 season.

After spending seven seasons at Villa, Petrov retired in 2013 following an acute leukaemia diagnosis the year prior. The ex-midfielder did return to training in 2016 after recovering from the illness but never returned to the professional game.

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