"Ask any Manchester United fan of a certain age what 26 May 1999 means to them, and they will tell you the date has marked them for life. It was the night injury-time goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjr sealed United's 2-1 comeback in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich at the Camp Nou. It was also the night the life of one United fan in Bulgaria, who has died this week at the age of 62, changed for ever."
"That supporter was born Marin Zdravkov Levidzhov in Svishtov, a town on the Danube with a population of 22,000. Growing up in communist Bulgaria adoring football, he dreamed of changing his name to Manchester United. To claim the name of a football club from the capitalist west, however, was mission impossible. Had Marin tried to do so before the fall of the regime, he would almost certainly have ended up in jail."
"Ten years after the end of communism in Bulgaria on that night in May 1999 Marin's idiosyncratic dream edged closer to reality. Watching the final from his modest home in Svishtov and with United trailing, Marin made a promise to himself: if United somehow turned the game around, he would do anything to change his name to that of the club he loved. Then the impossible happened."
Marin Zdravkov Levidzhov was born in Svishtov and grew up in communist Bulgaria with a deep passion for Manchester United. He dreamed of legally changing his name to Manchester United, a step that would have been impossible under the communist regime. After United's injury-time comeback on 26 May 1999, he promised to change his name if the club turned the game around and immediately consulted a lawyer. He faced trademark-based refusals, prolonged legal battles, financial hardship, and years of court setbacks while working odd jobs and living with his mother. He later gained wide attention and died at age 62.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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