Friends of Petrov gear up for charity cycle challenge

Wednesday 5 September 2012

Two friends of former Celtic star Stiliyan Petrov have set off from Glasgow on a 400-mile bike ride to raise money for blood cancer research.

saddle UP: Masseurs Alex Butler, left, and Andy Smith and former England player Geoff Thomas, right, meet Neil Lennon at Celtic Park before embarking on the first leg of their cycle challenge inspired by Stiliyan Petrov. Main picture: Jamie Simpson

Custom byline text:

Petrov, who is now the captain of Aston Villa, was diagnosed with acute leukaemia in March.

Club masseurs Alex Butler and Andy Smith aim to raise £250,000 by cycling between Parkhead and Villa Park in Birmingham.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon presented the men with a £5000 cheque from the Celtic Charity Fund and cycled out of Parkhead stadium with them as they began the 80-mile first leg of their trip to Newton St Boswells in the Borders. They were joined by former England international Geoff Thomas, who is a blood cancer survivor.The pair are raising money for the charity Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research.Former cricketer Sir Ian Botham has done 14 sponsored walks for the charity over 27 years, the most recent of which started in Glasgow in April.The Celtic manager joined Sir Ian then on part of the walk and said he supports all efforts to raise awareness of illnesses such as leukaemia.Lennon said: "I spoke to Stan [Petrov] about six weeks ago. He's in remission now but he's going to go through another heavy course of chemotherapy over the next few weeks. When it first came about it was a huge shock to everyone, particularly those who are close to him. But he's such a larger-than-life character and he's battling through it with great honour and dignity."You can see what it means to those who are close to him, I mean these guys work with him at Aston Villa and they've decided to put their bodies on the line to raise awareness of the illness. It just shows you what Stiliyan means to so many people, not just at Villa Park but at Celtic where he was a great player too."Around 30,000 people are diagnosed with blood cancer such as leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma in the UK every year.The "pedal for Petrov" will take the masseurs to various football stadiums in England including Newcastle United's Sports Direct Arena and Everton Goodison Park in Liverpool.The masseurs said they are doing the cycle to entertain Petrov during his treatment."We've all been at the club for around the same period of time and we get on really well, and he's always looked after us. When we needed him he's been there so when he needed us, we wanted to show him we love him," Mr Butler said."To do something like this just to keep his mind going while his treatment is going on is important to us."Mr Smith added: "When something like this happens the football community all come together, and we've had great support from clubs, fans and just people in general."

Contextual targeting label:

Charity

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

Friends of Petrov gear up for charity cycle challenge

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED