YEP 135: Inside the chaos and magic of Leeds United - My unforgettable front-row journey, Graham Smyth

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. There is always something going on.

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.

So the Championship title won by Bielsa in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic was cause for celebration at the home offices of YEP staff, because what can be better to write about than a triumph of attacking football? Particularly during the most bizarre and isolating time to be a football fan or reporter.

It was a privilege to be inside Elland Road the night Bielsa took hold of the Championship trophy. It was a crying shame the stadium was not full.

That season had so many memorable moments and Pablo Hernandez' goal at Swansea City will go down in history as one of the defining moments, but it was his and Leeds' first goal of the campaign that will always stand out for me. Twenty-six minutes into my first competitive Leeds game for the YEP, the wizard conjured up a strike of the utmost beauty. Welcome to the show.

In a season full of games that will be remembered, one stands head and shoulders above the rest because it would do so in any season. Birmingham City 4-5 Leeds United was pure chaos. Luke Ayling's belligerent defiance, the swings in momentum, a ridiculously young Jude Bellingham playing the game like a seasoned veteran - this was a game that had it all in a season that had it all.

What followed in 2020/21 was absolutely surreal. A newly-promoted team taking it to the big guns and bloodying noses everywhere they went. Sure, they took a few beatings but they punched so far above their weight for long enough that a top-10 finish was the least Bielsa and his players deserved. The 2-1 win away at Manchester City, with 10 men, was a crowning glory and a pleasure to witness in person.

The less said about what followed on from that season the better, for this piece is a celebratory one, though the skin-of-the-teeth survival did grant some great Elland Road moments and that unforgettable, madcap day at Brentford. None of that could ever match the sheer glee and joy in the city centre for the bus parade.

Witnessing history, albeit in snatched glimpses between billowing yellow and blue smoke, and almost being able to see what Leeds United means to the people of its city, was a career highlight.

Last season, like the 2019/20 predecessor, also brought dramatic moments and games that were difficult to put into words. Late goals, the blunting of the Blades at Bramall Lane and of course Manor Solomon's last-gasp strike at Plymouth Argyle that took a league title back to West Yorkshire.

The YEP should always be present when Leeds United are present and whether it's Perth, Australia or the back end of beyond in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, that statement has thankfully rang true. Seeing what Leeds United means to people on the other side of the planet, or how it inspires the people of Leeds to travel in such numbers to Oslo, Stockholm and Dublin, is always staggering.

What has made all of these moments and experiences so enjoyable has been the company of people in and around the club. Leeds United is a shared experience. Some of the stories we have been trusted to tell, even the most heart-wrenching ones, prove that Leeds United plays such a big part in the day-to-day lives of ordinary people all over the city and far beyond its boundaries. There is serious inspiration to be found among the fanbase.

There are fellow journalists, club staff members, players and supporters who have become friends, all of whom have added the human touch to sporting history. Football is meant to be lived with others, watched with others, celebrated and cursed with others.

The conversations on trains, the sneaky Leeds salutes delivered in the direction of the press box from Whites sitting where they shouldn't be sitting, even the Tweets and memes are all reminders of why reporting on Leeds United matters. And it could never be boring.