🔗 Share this article My Name Is Man Utd: This Superfan Who Battled to Alter His Legal Name Ask any Manchester United fan of a certain age about the importance of that fateful day in May 1999, and the answer will be that the night left an indelible mark. It was the night when last-minute strikes from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær completed an stunning come-from-behind victory in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich at the famous Barcelona stadium. That same night, the world of one United fan in Bulgaria, who has died at the 62 years old, changed forever. A Dream Born in Communist Bulgaria The fan in question was born Marin Zdravkov Levidzhov in a small Danube town, a community with a modest number of residents. Living in a socialist state with a devotion to football, he dreamed of changing his name to… the Red Devils. However, to adopt the name of a organization from the capitalist west was an unattainable goal. Any effort to do so prior to the end of communism, he would almost certainly have faced imprisonment. A Promise Forged in Drama Many seasons after the fall of the regime in Bulgaria – on the historic evening – Marin's personal goal moved nearer to fulfillment. Tuning in from home from his modest home in Svishtov and with his team losing, Marin made a promise to himself: in the event of a reversal, he would do anything to legally adopt the name that of the object of his devotion. Then, a miracle occurred. A lifelong wish to walk the halls of the famous stadium came true. A Protracted Court Struggle The next day, Marin visited a lawyer to state his extraordinary desire, thus beginning a long, hard battle. Marin’s father, from whom he had inherited his love of United, was long gone, and the man in his thirties was living with his mother, employed in miscellaneous roles, including as a builder on £15 a day. He was struggling financially, yet his dream became an obsession. He soon became the local celebrity, then gained worldwide attention, but many seasons full of legal battles and setbacks in litigation awaited him. Copyright Hurdles and Partial Victories Marin’s wish was denied early on for trademark concerns: he could not change his name of a trademark known around the globe. Then a presiding magistrate granted a limited approval, saying Marin could modify his forename to Manchester but that he was could not adopt the second part as his legal last name. “But I don’t want to be identified with an urban area in England, I want to bear the identity of my beloved team,” Marin told the court. His fight went on. His Beloved Cats When not in court, he was often tending to his pets. He had many animals in his back yard in Svishtov and cherished them equally with the Red Devils. He named them all after team stars: from Rio to Rooney, they were the best-known felines in town. Who was his preferred pet of Man U? The feline known as Beckham. Marin bedecked in United gear. Breakthroughs and Principles Marin managed another breakthrough in court: he was permitted to include United as an official nickname on his personal papers. But he remained dissatisfied. “My efforts will persist until my full name is as I desire,” he declared. His story soon led to commercial propositions – an offer to have fan merchandise produced under his new name – but even with his monetary challenges, he turned down the offer because he refused to make money from his favourite club. The club's identity was beyond commercial use. Aspirations Fulfilled and Final Acts His story was captured in that year. The production team fulfilled his wish of seeing the iconic stadium and there he even had the chance to see Dimitar Berbatov, the national team player then at the club at the time. Permanently marked the club badge on his face subsequently as a objection to the legal rulings and in his closing chapter it became ever tougher for him to persist with his fight. Job opportunities were scarce and he was bereaved to the virus. But he managed to continue. Born as a Catholic, he got baptised in an religious institution under the name his desired full name. “In the eyes of the divine, I am with my true identity,” he would frequently remark. On a recent Monday, his heart stopped beating. Maybe at last the club's determined supporter could finally find peace.