Marin Zdravkov has won a partial victory to change his name to a combination of what he wants, but isn't giving up until its exactly how he fancies it
13:41, 26 Apr 2014Updated 19:19, 26 Apr 2014
It's in a name: Marin Zdravkov has changed his name and will continue his legal battle(Image: MEN)
A Bulgarian man has won a partial victory in his 15-year legal battle to change his name - to Mr Manchester United.
Marin Zdravkov, 51, watched the Red Devils win over Bayern Munich in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final on TV and felt compelled to change his name.
However, his attempt to officially change his name to Mr Manchester United was blocked, leading to him launching a legal challenge against the authorities.
Now Marin has been granted permission to adopt a combination of his own name and the club’s title to become Manchester Zdravkov Levidzhov-United.
His official ID card lists United as his nickname, but he refuses to give up his fight until his name is changed completely to the less tongue-twisting moniker of Mr Manchester United.
A former devoted Catholic, he has changed his religion to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, which said it would accept him with the name Manchester United.
“Now at least the Lord knows the name I would like to die with,” he said.
Marin - a construction worker, who earns £16 a day, has even visited Old Trafford on a number of occasions - lives in Svishtov, a small town next to the Danube river, and inherited his love of United from his late father.
Theatre of dreams? Check(Image: MEN)
In the 70s, he explained, his father used to steal an illegal TV signal from neighbouring Romania to watch old first division games.
He said: “Back then, in the Communism era, if I had told someone that I would like to rename myself after a football club from the ‘evil’ captialistic world they would have certainly put me in jail.”
He came up with the idea of changing his name on the morning after the 1999 European Cup final.
The Bulgarian court allowed him to change his name to Manchester, but refused to allow United as his surname, saying it could be used as a trademark.
Marin said: “That is ridiculous, I don’t want to be just a namesake of an English city.
"Some friends are even making fun of me, by asking ‘OK, now that you are already officially known as Manchester, is your surname actually City or United?
"Furthermore, I would never misuse the name of my sacred football club for commercial purposes. I swear to God.”
Marin Zdravkov - Mr Manchester United