I Am Called Man Utd: This Superfan Who Struggled to Change His Name
Inquire of any United supporter from an earlier generation about the meaning of May 26th, 1999, and they will tell you that the night left an indelible mark. It was the moment when injury-time goals from Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær completed an incredible late turnaround in the showpiece event against Bayern Munich at the famous Barcelona stadium. Simultaneously, the life of one devoted supporter in Eastern Europe, who passed away at the age of 62, changed forever.
A Dream Born in Communist Bulgaria
That supporter was born Marin Levidzhov in Svishtov, a place with a population of 22,000. Being raised in the former Eastern Bloc with a passion for football, he longed to adopting a new name to… his beloved club. But, to take the name of a football club from the Western world was an unattainable goal. Any effort to do so during the socialist era, he would undoubtedly have ended up in jail.
A Promise Forged in Drama
Ten years after the fall of the regime in Bulgaria – on that night in May 1999 – Marin's unique aspiration moved nearer to reality. Viewing the match from his modest home in Svishtov and with United trailing, Marin made a promise to himself: should his team mount a comeback, he would spare no effort to become known as that of the object of his devotion. Then, the impossible happened.
Marin fulfils his dream of visiting Old Trafford.
Years of Judicial Challenges
The next day, Marin visited a lawyer to state his extraordinary desire, thus initiating a difficult fight. Marin’s father, from whom he had gained his fandom, was long gone, and the man in his thirties was residing with his mom, working all kinds of odd jobs, including as a builder on a meager daily wage. He was hardly making ends meet, yet his aspiration grew into a mania. He quickly turned into the talk of the town, then became an international sensation, but a decade and a half full of judicial disputes and disheartening court decisions were to come.
Legal Obstacles and Small Wins
The application was rejected initially for intellectual property issues: he was not permitted to adopt the name of a world-famous brand. Then a local judge granted a limited approval, saying Marin could alter his given name to the city name but that he was could not adopt United as his legal last name. “But I don’t want to be associated with just a place in the UK, I want to carry the title of my beloved team,” Marin informed the judge. His fight went on.
His Beloved Cats
During breaks from litigation, he was often tending to his pets. He had many animals in his garden in Svishtov and held them in the same esteem as the Manchester United. He gave each one a name after team stars: from Rio to Rooney, they were the celebrity pets in town. The one he loved most of his close friends' nickname for him? One named after David Beckham.
He was often seen in full club regalia.
Advances and Ethics
He achieved a further success in court: he was granted the right to append the club name as an official nickname on his identification document. But still he wasn’t happy. “I won’t stop until my complete identity is Manchester United,” he vowed. His story soon led to commercial propositions – a chance to have fan merchandise branded with his legal name – but despite his financial struggles, he turned down the offer because he refused to make money from his favourite club. The Manchester United name was inviolable.
Dreams Realized and Lasting Tributes
A documentary followed in that year. The production team turned Marin’s dream of seeing the iconic stadium and there he even had the chance to see Dimitar Berbatov, the Bulgaria striker then at the club at the time.
Marin tattooed the United crest on his brow three years later as a protest against the legal rulings and in his last few years it became more and more difficult for him to keep up the struggle. Employment was hard to find and he was bereaved to the virus. But he managed to continue. Originally of Catholic faith, he underwent baptism in an orthodox church under the name the identity he sought. “In the eyes of the divine, I am with my chosen name,” he often stated.
This Monday, 13 October, his time ran out. Maybe at last the club's restless soul could finally find peace.
