With 11 games of a gruelling and thrilling Championship promotion race to go, Middlesbrough are primed to end a spell of nine years away from the Premier League. If they can finish in the top two when the music stops in early May - they now sit second, three points clear of Ipswich Town albeit having played a game more - their unassuming head coach Kim Hellberg will write himself into Boro folklore. But go back to the start of the campaign and there's a fair chance few, if any, of the club's supporters would have known who Hellberg was. However, in the space of a few months, some thrilling football, allied to warmth and humility off the pitch, means Teesside has taken Hellberg to its heart. In an exclusive interview with BBC Radio Tees, the Boro head coach opened up on how he has come from the lower reaches of Swedish football to the brink of the English top flight.

Source: BBC March 05, 2026 19:19 UTC