THE MAN WHO BUILT FOOTBALL
“NOBODY THOUGHT ABOUT FOOTBALL GROUNDS LIKE THEY DID ART GALLERIES, ZOOS OR LIBRARIES”
Camlachie in 1865 was not a pretty place. A former weaving village subsumed by Glasgow’s ferocious growth during the Industrial Revolution, it hosted forges and foundries, chemical plants and metal works.
A typical engine of empire, Camlachie also presented opportunities. Archibald Leitch was a blacksmith, bending metal to his will through fire and experience; but while that profession was ancient and noble, his fourth child – also called Archibald – would work on far grander scales.
Born on Comelypark Street in April 1865, bright young Archie tested into grammar, studied science at a local college and joined a firm supplying textile and sugar processing machinery. Leitch Jnr carried out work as a draughtsman, liaising with architects and engineers to create technical drawings.
In 1896, he set up his own business as a factory architect and consulting engineer, dotting new workplaces around the bustling city. Three years later came the commission that would change his life. Having designed a new stand at Rugby Park for Kilmarnock – who were impressed by the factory-builder’s flat-pack functionality and speed – Archie was asked to design Rangers a brand new ground at Ibrox Park.
It was a dream commission, and not just because Leitch was a boyhood Gers fan. It threw aside a nascent professional football’s typically piecemeal development – this was the sort of carte blanche architects crave.
Rangers were craving the world’s biggest purpose-built football ground, for both status and income. Celtic Park had opened in 1892 and Hampden Park was set to expand (with Leitch’s help) as Glasgow’s
