🔗 Share this article

Ask any Manchester United fan who is older regarding the significance of 26 May 1999, and they will tell you that the date was life-altering. It was the evening when last-minute strikes from Sheringham and Solskjær secured an unbelievable late turnaround in the Champions League final against the German giants at the famous Barcelona stadium. It was also, the life of one United fan in Eastern Europe, who has died at the 62 years old, took a new direction.

Aspirations Under Communism

The fan in question was born Marin Zdravkov Levidzhov in his hometown, a community with a population of 22,000. Growing up in the former Eastern Bloc with a devotion to football, he aspired to adopting a new name to… the Red Devils. However, to take the name of a sports team from the capitalist west was a futile endeavor. Any effort to do so during the socialist era, he would undoubtedly have been arrested.

A Commitment Sealed by Fate

Ten years after the end of communism in Bulgaria – on the unforgettable final – Marin's unique aspiration edged closer to fulfillment. Tuning in from home from his modest home in Svishtov and with his team losing, Marin vowed to himself: if United somehow turned the game around, he would spare no effort to change his name that of the team he adored. Then, the impossible happened.

Marin fulfils his dream of visiting Old Trafford.

Years of Judicial Challenges

The following morning, Marin sought legal counsel to present his unique case, thus initiating a difficult fight. Marin’s father, from whom he had inherited his love of United, was no longer alive, and the 36-year-old was residing with his mom, taking on various types of work, including as a construction worker on minimal earnings. He was hardly making ends meet, yet his aspiration grew into a mania. He soon became the talk of the town, then was featured globally, but a decade and a half full of judicial disputes and discouraging rulings awaited him.

Legal Obstacles and Small Wins

The application was rejected initially for copyright reasons: he was not permitted to adopt the name of a trademark known around the globe. Then a presiding magistrate ruled partially in his favour, saying Marin could change his first name to Manchester but that he was prohibited from using United as his legal last name. “Yet my aim is to be named after a city in England, I want to bear the identity of my beloved team,” Marin informed the judge. His fight went on.

A Life with Feline Friends

Outside of legal proceedings, he was often tending to his pets. He had many animals in his outdoor space in Svishtov and held them in the same esteem as the Manchester United. He named them all after United players: from Rio to Rooney, they were the best-known felines in town. Who was his preferred pet of the name they used? One named after David Beckham.

Marin bedecked in United gear.

Progress and Integrity

Marin managed another breakthrough in court: he was granted the right to append the club name as an recognized alias on his ID card. But he remained dissatisfied. “I will continue until my entire name is Manchester United,” he vowed. His story soon led to business offers – an offer to have fan merchandise produced under his new name – but although he was in need, he declined the proposal because he refused to make money from his adored institution. The Manchester United name was sacred to him.

Dreams Realized and Lasting Tributes

A film was made in that year. The production team made his aspiration come true of visiting Old Trafford and there he even encountered the Bulgarian striker, the Bulgaria striker on the team's roster at the time.

He inked the United crest on his brow subsequently as a protest against the legal rulings and in his final years it became ever tougher for him to persist with his fight. Employment was hard to find and he was bereaved to the pandemic. But he managed to continue. Born as a Catholic, he got baptised in an orthodox church under the name his desired full name. “In the eyes of the divine, I am with my true identity,” he often stated.

This Monday, 13 October, his life came to an end. Maybe at last the club's restless soul could at last be at rest.