Exclusive: Stiliyan Petrov was 'giggling inside' as Celtic fan got floored by steward

Joe Hewlett
19 May 2022

The ex-Celtic player was chatting to Hoops manager Ange Postecoglou when a fan got floored in sensational style.

Petrov alongside ex-manager Martin O'Neill were talking to Postecoglou about Celtic's title-winning season when a supporter ran towards the Australian coach.

Luckily for him, a steward quickly reacted to the situation and tripped him over. The three-second video clip has had more than two million views on social media since.

Petrov saw it all happen as he turned his head at the right time and admitted he found it hilarious but had to keep it in.

"Great tackle, great tackle," Petrov laughed. "Yeah, to be honest it was the day when Celtic won the league, the fans were excited (and) everybody had a long season.

"Everybody was waiting for the official trophy to be given to Celtic so kids and people were running onto the pitch, so they were trying to get closer to players to celebrate with them," Petrov told Planet Sport.

"So unfortunately we were on air and one little kid was running towards the players and I think one of the stewards tackled him in a great manner.

"But this is as expected to be honest, the fans were expected to run onto the pitch, they wanted to celebrate, they wanted to be part of the celebration.

"So I'm not surprised, it was quite funny and it was good that it happened right behind us. But at that time I had Ange Postecoglou beside me.

"I was listening to him, obviously Martin O'Neil was there, so we couldn't really react so my reaction was just turn away and I left it there. Inside I was giggling but obviously, I couldn't do it on air."

Unbelievable tackle from this steward here. Sign him up, Ange 🍀 pic.twitter.com/atC3NKsCwi
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) May 14, 2022

Postecoglou done an 'incredible job'

Celtic won their tenth league title in 11 years although they weren't fancied to do so at the start of the season after three defeats from six.

Things took a turn once Steven Gerrard left Rangers and Celtic went on a 32-match unbeaten run, including two wins over their Old Firm rivals.

Celtic are now guaranteed to be in next season's Champions League, and Petrov has praised the work Postecoglou has done since taking over from Neil Lennon in the summer.

"He's very clear in his philosophy. He is recruiting incredibly good. I think he has completely changed the full team.

"I think he has signed about probably 12 players and he had three on loan. This is a completely changed transition to a full team.

"So I think in general skill, he has done an incredible job by believing in what he can do, what kind of manager he is.

"But mainly he had to convince everybody about his style. He had to convince his staff and players that style and the way he wants the team to play is the right way by getting the right results, he managed to do that," added Petrov.