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One day you’re speaking to Daniel Farke by the new Elland Road dug-outs and the next you’re interviewing Anton Stach about his new burger. Covering Leeds United is never dull.
Since I wrote my last newsletter I’ve seen Leeds play for two hours against RB Leipzig, Stach make a beef patty and the Whites make history in Dublin.
Wednesday’s game was the first-ever club game at Croke Park. A sell-out crowd of 82,000 saw two goals, a stream of young selfie-hunting pitch invaders and a penalty shoot-out. We even had a brief eclipse.
The scenes in the stands were fantastic and my vantage point was one of the best I’ve ever had. It was a memorable occasion, and one that goes down in Irish sports history. It capped a mad few days.
Spinning back to last Saturday, I and fellow reporters spoke to Farke for the first time this summer after the RB Leipzig win. For me, the big story from the game was that Joel Piroe failed to get on at all.
Daniel Farke explained that this was merely due to selection preference, rather than any injury or other reason. He was also snubbed on Wednesday - so that’s three games without pitch time. The writing is on the wall.
Shortly before my chat with Farke, we spoke to Jaka Bijol. He wore the captain’s armband for the second half, as he did in the first against Man Utd.
I asked him if he felt he had already become a leader in the dressing room despite being only a year into his stay. After all, Farke had previously branded him captain pedigree.
“I feel like I can help a team a lot, and yeah, that's just how I see things. And I try to give my best on the pitch, outside the pitch, just to help everyone.
“It's always proud when you get to be the captain of the team, for anyone. We just keep on growing, just keep on working because it doesn't mean anything [if we] we don't perform on the pitch every week.
“We just have such good captains, and they show us how to do it, and it's good to see that.”
Bijol with the armband / Credit: George Wood/Getty Images
I think it’s either him or Joe Rodon for the new vice-captaincy. I’ll see if I can ask Farke the question at some point.
Anyway, fast-forward 48 hours - actually probably only 36 - and I’m watching Stach munch into his burger. Because, of course.
Those who follow Leeds even loosely will know that the German has a fun character, exuded most through his YouTube channel. Actually, it is this that the ‘Moustachi cheeseburger’ is named after.
He has teamed up with Meat:Stack in Leeds city centre, just opposite the train station, to release his limited-edition item menu. And £2 from every sale will go to charity while helping a business that has struggled thanks to the prolonged station works. You can read about that here.
Lots of local media were there and Anton was very courteous with the many video requests asked of him.
During a chat a short while later, I asked him if he did any cooking at home. He candidly replied: “Sometimes - but I think my wife is better at cooking!”
I thought it best to leave that out of the promo piece given he is due to self-serve fans upon the burger’s launch on Tuesday.
(For clarity; I’m being tongue-in-cheek - I saw him cook and eat his own burger. He did perfectly fine and the burger frankly looked amazing).
It was onto Dublin 48 hours after that, almost to the minute. The plane was packed with Leeds fans, the weather was sublime and the people, lovely.
I confess, I’m not much acquainted with Irish-bred Gaelic sports but you could really sense the history of the place. Old school mixed with the modern.
Of course, there were more Man Utd fans (including the screaming kid behind me when they won the shoot-out) but Leeds supporters made themselves heard.
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You will have probably seen the lines that came out of our chats with Farke and Noah Okafor afterwards, so I won’t dwell on that. As I came down the lift, though, I shook hands with Tony Dorigo, who was co-commentating for LUTV.
“Job done and move on,” he summed up, sweeping aside the penalties. “They were much better second half”.
I agree, although first-half debutant James Trafford deserved his man of the match award - Dorigo concurred. What a breath of fresh air he will be.
Leaving Croke Park at almost midnight, I made sure to keep my press pass as a momento. One for the grandkids.
Simon Grayson was on my flight back. Of course, he did excellently during his tenure but how far Leeds have come since those days.
Like I said, this job is never dull. But I am going to leave it there for this week as it’s now 8pm on Thursday and I’m in need of a fish finger sandwich.
Next week, we’ll be on the eve of the season. Exciting times. Just like my sandwich.
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