25, 16 with Celtic
HONOURS:
Captained Bulgaria at just 21 years old
Stilian became known internationaly known thanks to his performance against England in a Euro 2000 qualifier in the Summer of 1999. England expected to go to Bulgaria and pick up an easy 3 points but they struggled badly and could only draw with Bulgaria with Stan one of the main reasons behind the result.
Stan then signed for Celtic and despite a poor start to his Celtic career he still played for Bulgaria including a match against Sweden and Celtic team-mates Henrik Larsson and Johan Mjallby.
In the 2000/2001 season Stan was honoured with the Captains armband for a number of games at just 21 years old.
His wedding in June 2001 was shown live on Bulgarian Television and received extensive coverage in the newspapers which shows how big Stan has become in Bulgaria.
This was further illustrated when he captained Bulgaria in the World Cup Qualifier against Matla despite not having played a competitive game for Celtic for 5 months after his leg break.