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Leo Percovich's Middlesbrough story is an extraordinary tale of passion, perseverance through tragedy, and a rare bond between him and the Boro fans.

Leo Percovich arrived as just another coach in Middlesbrough's latest installment of backroom staff, but he would soon forge a legacy as a true cult hero on Teesside.

Sometimes, a coach arrives at a football club and strikes up a rare bond with the supporters and the area as a whole. Rarely are those goalkeeping coaches, and even rarer still does the bond run as deep as the one between Percovich and Middlesbrough.

The Uruguayan first arrived at the club in November 2013, joining as a goalkeeper coach under new boss Aitor Karanka. Over the next couple of years, Percovich's passion for the club saw him strike up a connection between him and the fans that has only grown stronger with time.

From beating the badge on his chest and roaring to supporters after wins, to passion-fuelled antics on the sidelines, Percovich became adored by the Boro faithful.

Football League World explores the amazing and inspiring story of Percovich's time in the North East, how he grew from a goalkeeping coach to the man entrusted to guide the club during the transitional period between managers, and why Teesside will always be a home for him.

Percovich helps deliver excellent performances

Boro's shot stoppers impressed under his watch

When reflecting on the tale of Percovich and Middlesbrough, what he was able to achieve as a coach during his time with the club can often be overlooked.

That's a shame too, as the Uruguayan proved himself as an excellent goalkeeping coach in his early years at the Riverside, and oversaw perhaps one of the best eras of shot stopping at the club in its recent history.

When he and Karanka arrived in late 2013, Boro's goalkeeping situation was up in the air somewhat. The club's crop of keepers at the time included Jason Steele, Shay Given, Jayson Leutwiler, Tomas Mejias, Dimitrios Konstantopoulos and Connor Ripley.

In fact, Ripley was the only goalkeeper of that group of six who didn't play at least one competitive game for Middlesbrough in the 2013/14 season, further highlighting just how insecure the position was at the time.

Out of that chaos, Kantatopoulos emerged, as the veteran keeper, was given the nod to be the club's definitive number one goalkeeper from the 2014/15 season onwards, and Percovich helped turn him into one of Boro's best in recent times.

In the middle of their eventual automatic promotion-winning 2015/16 season, Boro, with Konstantopoulos in goal and Percovich as goalkeeping coach, set a new all-time club record of nine consecutive home clean sheets in the league.

Middlesbrough conceded just 31 goals that season, which was the least amount of any team across English football's top four tiers, and further indicated just how stellar of a job Percovich had done.

Tragedy sees Teesside rally around Percovich

Middlesbrough fans truly showed their class

He would remain in the role as goalkeeping coach with Middlesbrough until he would leave the club in the summer of 2017. Karanka had left and was replaced by Garry Monk, as Boro were preparing for life back in the Championship after suffering relegation from the Premier League.

However, Percovich would return to Teesside just a year later, but not in the circumstances anyone wished for. Percovich had moved to Brazil to start a new position as the manager of Fluminense's Under-20 side, and it was whilst he was working in this role in December 2017 that tragedy struck.

Percovich was driving with his wife and three children in Brazil, when his car fell from a 20-metre high road bridge. Percovich and his wife Juliana suffered serious injuries but thankfully escaped the accident, but heartbreakingly, it claimed the life of his five-year-old daughter Antonella en route to the hospital.

His son, Pietro, eventually recovered from his injuries which had left the eight-year-old boy in critical condition, but unfortunately, the Percovich family was about to be inflicted with another unimaginable loss.

A week after the accident, his eldest daughter, Valentina (10), succumbed to her injuries on Christmas Eve. The news of the accident and the loss of his two daughters sent shockwaves across Teesside, and indeed the footballing world.

Middlesbrough fans lit up the Riverside Stadium with their phones for the Boxing Day fixture vs Bolton, in what came to be remembered as the 'night of lights'. As a thank you, Percovich would return to the Riverside for the play-off semi-final first leg vs Aston Villa, in what was one of the most emotional moments Boro's stadium has ever seen.

Percovich was handed a microphone, as he addressed all four corners of the Riverside Stadium alongside his son Pietro, who waved a Middlesbrough flag. He thanked the Boro fans for the support they'd shown to him and his family, before in typical Leo fashion, he whipped up the entire ground into a pre-match frenzy with a 'red army!' war cry.

Leo leads Boro admirably as interim boss

Hayden Hackney big first team break follows

Percovich stayed in his coaching role at Fluminense until he received a call from Middlesbrough once again in June 2019, as new Boro boss Jonathan Woodgate wanted him to become a part of his backroom staff as an assistant coach.

It was an opportunity he simply couldn't turn down, and so the elation of Teesside, one of their favourite adopted sons, had come home.

So, when Woodgate was sacked in the summer of 2020, many Middlesbrough supporters feared that would mean Percovich would go with him, but that wasn't to be the case, as he remained in his role under multiple new coaches.

First, Neil Warnock and later Chris Wilder both inherited Leo when they took over as the respective new Middlesbrough managers, as the Uruguayan became a cornerstone part of Boro's coaching team.

However, he would get the chance to take charge of the team when Wilder was sacked in early October 2022, as he was appointed caretaker manager.

It was during this period that he decided to hand a first-team opportunity to young central midfielder Hayden Hackney, who, up until then, had only made three appearances for the club in the previous two seasons.

He would score against Wigan in a 4-1 win, and the rest, they say, is history. Hackney has since grown into one of the finest central midfielders in the Championship, has earned England recognition at youth level, and has been touted for a big Premier League move for some time.

Percovich calls time on coaching role

A new position awaits at Middlesbrough

Eventually, Michael Carrick was appointed as the new head coach, and that meant Percovich's time in caretaker charge was over. It did, however, mean a career change on Teesside for Leo too.

Now part of the Riverside furniture, Percovich was appointed as the club's Head of Player Pathway and Development in October 2022, a role he'd already proven he could perform admirably given his aforementioned identification of the fact that Hackney was ready to star in Boro's senior side.

Since then, a number of Middlesbrough's young academy stars have made the transition into Carrick's first-team, including the likes of Law McCabe, Sol Brynn, George McCormick, Fin Cartwright and Harley Hunt, to name a few.

So, from arriving as a relatively unknown goalkeeping coach back in November 2013, to becoming one of the club's most well-loved figures in history, Percovich has crafted a relationship with Middlesbrough Football Club to last a lifetime.

His presence may no longer be observable in the dug out, but the work that he is and will continue to do shows up every time an academy prospect takes the field wearing the colours of the club he holds so close to his heart.

Percovich's passion for the club and the area invoked a resurgence of pride in their football club that had been wavering somewhat in the years prior to his and Karanka's arrival, and saw him earn a constant place in every Teessiders heart.

A true Middlesbrough legend, an inspiration, and a vital part of Boro's success in the past, in the present, and indeed, in the future.