Archibald Leitch

[hipkiss92]

https://twitter.com/The_SimonInglis

@The_SimonInglis
 1h1 hour ago

"Archibald Leitch died April 25 1939. Buried East Sheen, London. His sole obituary was 2 lines in journal of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, describing him as a consulting engineer and factory architect. No mention of football."



How many millions of people have must have wonderful moments etched in their memory banks against a Leitch inspired backdrop.
 
I think I read a story about Simon Inglis (Villa fan and THE authority on football grounds) flying across Europe and his wife asking what country they were over. "Germany" he replied, "right over Frankfurt" as he instantly identified the Eintracht stadium from 30,000 feet.

Oh yes, whenever I'm flying I am looking out for football grounds, of any size, trying to indentify them. I bought Inglis' first book on football grounds when I was about 15, I couldn't believe there was anyone else as obsessed as I was about grounds. It remains a great interest, but I'm no groundhopper.

I'm exactly the same.  Wherever I go I'm always on the lookout for football grounds, I love to chalk a new one off the list.  Spotting them from the air is a great way to pass a few minutes when coming in to land.  Coming in to Heathrow you get some great views, Brentford especially.

Flying back from the Canary Islands to Stansted last year provided great views of Craven Cottage, the Oval and Lord's.

[exigo]

I did a quick colourisation job on that top shot ages back. Shame I haven't got a higher res version to play with.

[Somniloquism]

Died 80yrs ago today. Short Beeb article, although Villa references are a bit light, other than nice piccie of present Holte End.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-48028660

I don't blame Inglis as he would have definitely talked about the Holte and it's legendary size for the time (assuming it was an actual interview and not just parts of the book), but they decide to picture the new Holte which has not anything to do with him and not mention anything at all about one of the "grandest stands of all time" in the Trinity. But they show Liverpool's poor in comparison Gable and then turn it into a Spurs lovefest at the end. Bloody BBC.

[Nelly]

I did a quick colourisation job on that top shot ages back. Shame I haven't got a higher res version to play with.

Gorgeous! Thank you so much for this. Really helps bring it to life!

[brian green]

I was thinking about Archibald Leitch and historic old stadiums as I watched Citeh rinse Yanited on Sky two nights ago.  All around the dug out and anywhere the TV might focus there are large painted plywood Man U crests fixed to plain brick walls.  You get the feeling that when that club achieve their ultimate destiny and become Coca Cola Devils the plywood logos can be replaced and the outfit rebranded overnight.

Time was when Archibald had the illustrious names of the clubs built into there homes.

The BBC in its tribute to Leitch damned the great man with the faint praise of his only obituary describing him as a "factory architect" completely missing the point that the greatest architects of the 19th and 20th centuries were factory architects including Walter Gropius, Mies Van Der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Buckminster Fuller.

[darren woolley]

I've got Engineering Archie by Inglis. It's a masterpiece.

I think the book goes for silly money now as well

Me too I have it in my collection.

[cheltenhamlion]

I've got Engineering Archie by Inglis. It's a masterpiece.

I think the book goes for silly money now as well

Me too I have it in my collection.

Darren robbed it!

[darren woolley]

I've got Engineering Archie by Inglis. It's a masterpiece.

I think the book goes for silly money now as well

Me too I have it in my collection.

Darren robbed it!

LOL

[dave.woodhall]

I've got Engineering Archie by Inglis. It's a masterpiece.

I think the book goes for silly money now as well

Me too I have it in my collection.

Darren robbed it!

And sold it to finance his habit.

[LeeB]

I've got Engineering Archie by Inglis. It's a masterpiece.

I think the book goes for silly money now as well

Me too I have it in my collection.

Darren robbed it!

And sold it to finance his habit.

I didn't know he was a nun.

[Clark W Griswold]

Well, that's me educated. I thought you were on about John Cleese's character in 'A fish called Wanda'.

[curiousorange]

I know times change and all that, but while everyone was banging on about Spuds' new enormo-dome I was thinking about how cold those places leave me. Aside from the obvious beauty of the Holte, there's a strange aesthetic quality to a ground where the stands don't match. VP isn't as nice looking as maybe it was but it's a unique home all the same. Me and the new missus have just been to Munich and I dragged her to the Allianz and the Olympiastadion. We saw the Allianz lit red as we came in from the airport and it looked incredible, but close up it's nothing special really, whereas the Olympiastadion still looks mint. Completely one of a kind.

[brian green]

It's called architecture curious.  And that is not having a pop it is defence of an art form.  There are new stadiums being built that are as relevant to art as Archibald Leitch's Trinity Stand was.  It encapsulated the brash, swaggering, self aggrandisement of the age in which it was built.  It was a masterpiece of architecture, urban renaissance and social history.  Now it is somewhere in a sealed off landfill site under Chelmsley Wood.  There are new stadiums blazing a trail in social relevance.  I used to go to games at Cannes.  Their then new stadium was absolutely, unashamedly, proudly part of a huge industrial estate.  Archie Leitch would love it.

[Chico Hamilton III]

Well, that's me educated. I thought you were on about John Cleese's character in 'A fish called Wanda'.

Or Cary Grant

[jon collett]

I spent a fantastic evening many years ago above a pub in North London listening to Simon Inglis and Richard Whitehead talking about Villa and football grounds. A few others from here were there as well. Nerd heaven.

I chaired that meeting.

Think it was at the North Star on Finchley Road. Early 2000s