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"well written, forensically researched ... A book that must command a place on the shelf of very discerning fan." The Times "utterly engrossing ... I would urge you to check out this delightfully absorbing study." The Daily Telegraph "a strikingly potent and stylishly bespoke little biography ... Hurray for heritage." The Spectator Runner up in the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2005
Product Description
Professional football provide one of the Victoran era's most mesmerising spectacles, developed at a time when the British public has at its disposal more free time and spare pennies than ever before. But as the bread became more plentiful, it needed someone to build the circuses. That man was Archibald Leitch. Born in Glasgow in 1865, Archibald Leitch - a consulting engineer and factory architect by profession - became to football what Frank Matcham was to theatre; in effect, its designer in chief. Millions of spectators sat or stood in Leitch's structures, built for such famous clubs as Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Tottenham, Aston Villa, Hearts and, not least, Glasgow Rangers, where his stadium career began in 1899, and nearly ended just three years later, when one of his stands gave way, leading to the death of 26 spectators. Leitch witnessed the tragedy and vowed never to let it be repeated. But while his pedimented gables and criss-cross steelwork balconies formed a recognisable and much-admired style, and his own patented crush barriers were so ubiquitous as to be virtually invisible, until now little has been known of Leitch himself. Moreover, following the modernisation of football grounds as a result of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, only a dozen of his buildings survive. In this timely and entertaining study of Leitch's life, his works and his legacy, Simon Inglis has unearthed a surprising number of hitherto unseen plans, documents and archive photographs, many of them rich in detail.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Simon Inglis has brought us a well produced, well researched, factual and entertaining book with so many interesting insights into the building and history of the amazing numbers of football grounds that Mr Leitch designed.
I bought it as a Fulham supporter, to enhance my library on Craven Cottage, but this book will be of interest to any football fan with any desire to learn of the heritage of the sport. Leitch was such an important character whose engineering works have been used and enjoyed by generations. Recommended.
LBNo11
Johnny Haynes: The Maestro
I bought it as a Fulham supporter, to enhance my library on Craven Cottage, but this book will be of interest to any football fan with any desire to learn of the heritage of the sport. Leitch was such an important character whose engineering works have been used and enjoyed by generations. Recommended.
LBNo11
Johnny Haynes: The Maestro
Format:Paperback
Many of us have been to a football ground at one time in our lives and, like seaside piers, have done nothing more than gone in and come out once the entertainment has ended. However, how many take the time to look at the make up of such things? Galpharm Stadium, Stadium of Light, Riverside Stadium, and St. Mary's Stadium, etc. may well be wonderful modern arenas in which to watch football but something is missing. History. (They all have rather boring names too, with equally insipid monikers for the four sides - at one time only two league clubs had `Stadium' in the name; now there are 22.)
Simon Inglis' fourth book on football grounds delves into the man that was most responsible for transforming basic Victorian enclosures into Edwardian delights; Archibald Leitch. He had an involvement in the development of 42 football grounds (two in Belgium), and also that of Twickenham, Cardiff Arms Park, and West Ham Stadium, used for greyhound racing and speedway and, briefly, league football. Sadly, no more than a dozen examples of his grandstands still survive. Who would have thought a football grandstand would involve mosaics, marble flooring, lattice steel columns, terracotta brick linings, ornate splayed steelwork, Dutch gables and cartouches. Maybe that's why two of the surviving stands are now Grade 11 listed buildings. If you want to go on a tour of a Leitch stand, Ibrox Park is your destination. It wasn't just grandstands he had a hand in; those tubular crush barriers everyone used to lean on when standing was allowed were his design.
Containing a plethora of colour and black and white photos, sketches and design drawings, you'll know why this was runner-up in the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2005, a strap line added to the 2007 reprinted edition. That it also includes photos of wanton acts of vandalism on the part of club owners in their desperate chase for new revenue streams gives much of this book a tinge of sadness for anyone with an interest in early 20th Century architecture. Yes, some had to be demolished for safety reasons but to see Aston Villa's superb Trinity Road Stand reduced to rubble and replaced by some characterless structure, makes you wonder whether everyone involved really was that short-sighted. Money is everything. Nothing, not even the history and soul of a club, can get in the way.
If you think Pride Park, Reebok Stadium or Emirates Stadium are what football grounds are all about, buy this and discover that the character and surroundings do matter. Insipid, clinical boxes create a similar atmosphere. For many spectators, the fun of watching football started its decline the day the speculators moved in.
Simon Inglis' fourth book on football grounds delves into the man that was most responsible for transforming basic Victorian enclosures into Edwardian delights; Archibald Leitch. He had an involvement in the development of 42 football grounds (two in Belgium), and also that of Twickenham, Cardiff Arms Park, and West Ham Stadium, used for greyhound racing and speedway and, briefly, league football. Sadly, no more than a dozen examples of his grandstands still survive. Who would have thought a football grandstand would involve mosaics, marble flooring, lattice steel columns, terracotta brick linings, ornate splayed steelwork, Dutch gables and cartouches. Maybe that's why two of the surviving stands are now Grade 11 listed buildings. If you want to go on a tour of a Leitch stand, Ibrox Park is your destination. It wasn't just grandstands he had a hand in; those tubular crush barriers everyone used to lean on when standing was allowed were his design.
Containing a plethora of colour and black and white photos, sketches and design drawings, you'll know why this was runner-up in the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2005, a strap line added to the 2007 reprinted edition. That it also includes photos of wanton acts of vandalism on the part of club owners in their desperate chase for new revenue streams gives much of this book a tinge of sadness for anyone with an interest in early 20th Century architecture. Yes, some had to be demolished for safety reasons but to see Aston Villa's superb Trinity Road Stand reduced to rubble and replaced by some characterless structure, makes you wonder whether everyone involved really was that short-sighted. Money is everything. Nothing, not even the history and soul of a club, can get in the way.
If you think Pride Park, Reebok Stadium or Emirates Stadium are what football grounds are all about, buy this and discover that the character and surroundings do matter. Insipid, clinical boxes create a similar atmosphere. For many spectators, the fun of watching football started its decline the day the speculators moved in.
Format:Paperback
I love this book! - I've been to many of the old grounds myself and it brings back happy memories, albeit a little scary bearing in mind the state of terraces in the 1970s (:lol:) ...
Feel the surges as if you were there ...
Feel the surges as if you were there ...
Most Recent Customer Reviews
As good as expected
Arrived in good time,well packaged. Had a search for this on other sites and this was the best I could find, a very good price
Published 5 months ago by P. Hellingsworth
Excellent choice for those with an interest in football
Bought as a present for 40 something football fan who never picks up a book. however he can't put this one down. a must for any football fan in the UK
Published on 11 Mar 2010 by C. Gerrard
Engineering Archie:Archibald Leitch-Football Ground Designer
Recently,in Europe and United States Many Stadiums are rebuilt to create new market of sports spectators. Read more
Published on 25 Oct 2009 by Sta-rena
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