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Should Aston Villa retire the number 19 shirt as a tribute to Stan?


The_Rev

Should Aston Villa retire the number 19 jersey?  

135 members have voted

  1. 1. In the wake of Stiliyan Petrov's retirement should Aston Villa retire the squad number 19?

    • No
    • Yes
    • Unsure, but we shouldn't have a #19 next season.


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Talking about this is of course extremely difficult, because no matter how opposed you sound like a cynical bastard. In my opinion there are no ground to pull the #19 shirt off the racks.

 

Petrov, no matter how great he is as a person and captain, was never a great player for us and we never won anything with him. Harsh, no doubt about it, but you have to have a really strong case to propose a retirement of his shirt as it could end up being meaningless. It is a gesture of great meaning, and to be even more cynical - he has survived and will probably live a long, happy life. Sure I do not know the future for Stiliyan at all, but if he ends up healthy then he is just a player that retired. Many people break their legs and retire afterwards, and that is the nature of the game sometimes. Cancer is a vicious and cruel fact of life that has taken many great people off this earth way too soon, but it is also a common decease I am afraid.

 

If let's say a player like Paul Scholes, with 20 years of experience in one club suffered something dramatic, then yes there would be no dicussion. However, Petrov has been a bigger hero at Celtic before and he has been popular with us too, if only for 6 seasons. GREAT person and a good leader, but retiring his shirt would be meaningless as he is a survivor from cancer and he has reached the age of retirement anyway. Please don't attack this post as it clearly isn't meant to be a dig at anyone and certainly not Petrov. What is important to him is living the rest of his life, and we all know he has got a lot of money and a happy family. Now, what would be in order is a Testimonial of some sort to show our appreciation for him. One last walk out on the pitch at Villa Park would be awesome, I suspect that will happen this weekend? Will be some emotions on Saturday, I admit it will be nice to see Petrov and Sir Alex Ferguson get their ovations from so many people.

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No. His impact at the club wasn't in any way of great significance, and as he's not dead but fighting a serious illness it seems a bit erm...tasteless to me. It should be for very special players, who've passed on or we'd be losing numbers left right and centre.

Decent player, nice fella, hope he continues in his road to recovery.

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Yes I think it would be a fitting gesture. I hope the 19th minute applause continues for some time. I did find the sunderland 30 min one a bit ridiculous.

Edited by PaulC
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No I don't think we should. Its a bit small time, don't you think? I mean, he hasn't died and looks to be on the mend. He won;t play football again but I don't think it would be what he would have wanted. Let someone special have that number next.

 

The 19th minute applause can stay though - we never concede then!

Edited by R.I.C.O.
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Yes we should. Players like Stan come around a handful of times if you are lucky and it is a privilege to say that he represented my club. I am not simply basing that on playing ability. I am sure that Stan would be the first to admit he wasn't the greatest player. What he was is a good player who never gave less than a 100% every game and even when things were not going for him in a game he would still try to encourage and inspire those around him.

 

Listen to any of the younger lads at the club talk about Stan and they will all say what an inspiring figure he has been to them during his time at the club. His influence goes way beyond what he did on the pitch for us and he has earned and deserves such a fitting gesture as having the shirt he gave his all in for us retired.

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no to retiring the the number, what a daft idea, its just a number

 

i agree with not using it for next season out of respect but thats it, i also feel that 19 should be a forwards number anyway

Edited by AndyBM
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No. 

 

I wouldn't issue the 19 for next season but the season after yes.

 

I agree with the poster who suggested West Ham retiring the No.6 was a tacky cash-grab. That is the same for the other clubs who retired jerseys.

 

Retiring shirts is silly, unless you think ca$h is reason enough (which I don't): 1. there are few numbers available 2. the numbers 1-11 mean something about the position being played, which is not the case in a sport like Ice Hockey.

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Pongotastic, on 09 May 2013 - 12:16 PM, said:

He's still alive and I sincerely hope his health improves and he recovers from this horrible illness.

I don't think you can retire numbers on that basis. Reading the dignity and humility of the statement I doubt he would want it retired!

Perfectly put.
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It'd be nice to do something, but I don't think retiring the shirt is the appropriate jesture. Some sort of sponsorship of his charity or financial donation geared around 19 in some way would be suitable IMO.

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It's a shame that it seems that the man had to die to deserve the gesture, in some people's eyes. For me, it's the number that he requested and very others have worn - retire it in his honour!

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I put unsure. I can see why the club would retire it as it's been mentioned earlier in the thread that numbers 1-11 have a long history of great players having worn them, but Rev's post showed that few have worn #19 and he's about the only one that was even good. It'd be a nice touch, but I wouldn't be bothered if they didn't.

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As much as I love Petrov, I dont think we should retire the number 19.  He is still with us and hopefully he has a long life ahead of him.  I don't think he would want the shirt retired.  I do not think it would be in good taste.  Further, I think the Chelsea game should be the last game that we do the 19th Minute applause.  Petrov is moving on with his life and moving on to the next stage and so should we.

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