A football club with a flair for the dramatic - that's Leeds

Leeds United is a football club with a flair for the dramatic so covering it for the YEP affords you a front row seat for both the sublime and the ridiculous.

- by Graham Smyth

Leeds United championship parade. Right, former Leeds United's Argentinian head coach Marcelo Bielsa looks on during a match between Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur

There is a reason why the phrase 'it's never boring' is uttered so frequently around Elland Road. There is always something going on.

There is always something engaging or enraging an obsessed, devoted fanbase. And if there is something being talked about, there is something to write about.

Since the summer of 2019 when I took over as the YEP's chief football writer, Leeds United have won two titles, suffered relegation, said heartbreaking goodbyes to all-time greats, played through a pandemic, partied without their fans and partied with hundreds of thousands in the city centre. In six and a half years the club has had five managers. The era of Marcelo Bielsa peaked gloriously and came to a sad end. The players who brought his football to life have almost all departed.

Last week another managerial era hung in the balance before two sensational performances and results added to the long list of great Elland Road nights.

Managing the relationship between the YEP and the club is not always an easy task because it falls to local journalists to reflect Leeds United's present reality, be it good or bad. In the bad times that can be uncomfortable for those running things at Elland Road and even in the good times there can be friction because the role of the local press is to be a critical friend. But it often bears repeating that the better Leeds do, the better it is for the YEP.