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Inquire of any Man United fan who is older concerning the meaning of 26 May 1999, and the answer will be that the occasion left an indelible mark. It was the evening when last-minute strikes from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær sealed an unbelievable come-from-behind victory in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich at the famous Barcelona stadium. That same night, the existence of one United fan in Eastern Europe, who passed away at the age of 62, changed forever.

A Dream Born in Communist Bulgaria

That supporter was originally called Marin Levidzhov in a small Danube town, a settlement with a tight-knit community. Living in the former Eastern Bloc with a devotion to football, he aspired to legally altering his identity to… his beloved club. Yet, to take the name of a organization from the capitalist west was an unattainable goal. Had Marin tried to do so prior to the end of communism, he would undoubtedly have been arrested.

A Promise Forged in Drama

Ten years after the political changes in Bulgaria – on that night in May 1999 – Marin's unique aspiration moved nearer to fulfillment. Viewing the match from his simple residence in Svishtov and with his team losing, Marin vowed to himself: should his team mount a comeback, he would spare no effort to legally adopt the name that of the club he loved. Then, against all odds, it transpired.

Marin fulfils his dream of visiting Old Trafford.

Years of Judicial Challenges

The following morning, Marin visited a lawyer to express his unusual request, thus beginning a long, hard battle. The parent who inspired him, from whom he had learned to support the club, was no longer alive, and the man in his thirties was caring for his parent, taking on various types of work, including as a construction worker on £15 a day. He was struggling financially, yet his goal turned into a fixation. He soon became the talk of the town, then gained worldwide attention, but many seasons full of court cases and setbacks in litigation were to come.

Copyright Hurdles and Partial Victories

Marin’s wish was rejected initially for intellectual property issues: he could not change his name of a trademark known around the globe. Then a court official granted a limited approval, saying Marin could modify his forename to Manchester but that he was could not adopt the second part as his family name. “But I don’t want to be associated with just a place in Britain, I want to bear the identity of my beloved team,” Marin stated during proceedings. The battle persisted.

His Beloved Cats

When not in court, he was often caring for his feline friends. He had a large number in his back yard in Svishtov and held them in the same esteem as the his team. He christened them after United players: from Rio to Rooney, they were the celebrity pets in town. Which was the favourite cat of his close friends' nickname for him? One named after David Beckham.

Marin bedecked in United gear.

Advances and Ethics

He achieved a further success in court: he was granted the right to append United as an legal alternative on his identification document. But this did not satisfy him. “I won’t stop until my entire name is as I desire,” he promised. His tale attracted commercial propositions – a proposal to have supporters' goods made using his identity – but even with his monetary challenges, he declined the proposal because he was unwilling to gain financially from his adored institution. The team's title was beyond commercial use.

Aspirations Fulfilled and Final Acts

A film was made in 2011. The filmmakers turned Marin’s dream of experiencing the Theatre of Dreams and there he even had the chance to see his compatriot, the Bulgaria striker on the team's roster at the time.

Marin tattooed the team emblem on his forehead three years later as a protest against the court decisions and in his final years it became ever tougher for him to keep up the struggle. Employment was hard to find and he was bereaved to the virus. But somehow, he found a way. Born as a Catholic, 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 would frequently remark.

Earlier this week, his life came to an end. It is possible that the club's determined supporter could achieve eternal tranquility.