Think of English football stadiums of a certain vintage and one feature will evoke nostalgia like no other.
From Goodison Park and Anfield in the Liverpool to Roker Park in Sunderland and the stunning Trinity Stand at Villa Park, stadiums across the country once featured the famous criss-cross patterns of famed architect Archibald Leitch.
The architect designed parts of many of the most famous stadiums in the UK, from the original Ibrox Park to Old Trafford. In fact, it was his love for the former that made – and very nearly broke – his career as an architect. This was because he was the architect who designed the terrace that collapsed in the Ibrox disaster that saw 25 fans lose their lives.
After that disaster Leitch redesigned the Ibrox stand and it led to a host of other work including the only surviving pieces of his legacy, the Johnny Haynes Stand at Fulham’s Craven Cottage and the Gwladys Street and Bullens Road at Everton’s Goodison Park. So popular was Leitch’s work that 27 years after his death six of the eight World Cup stadiums in 1966 featured some design work by the architect.
It is safe to say Leitch is the Godfather of the football terraces that graced the country when Subbuteo was at its peak.
Leitch’s designs are some of the most famous and most popular stadium features in world football and now you can get the same look in Subbuteo.
SubbuteoStadium.com owner and 3D print genius Ron Hogendijk has revealed his latest masterpiece; the famous Archibald Leitch designs on a Subbuteo stand. Over the years Ron has produced everything from Subbuteo seats for stands to working USB floodlights and the latest addition is sure to excite stadium builders across the hobby.
The facades follow the traditional pattern created by Leitch and come in blue or red – handy for those who might want to differentiate from those that appear at Goodison Park and the likes of Sunderland’s former Roker Park home.
The facades will be released on SubbuteoStadium.com shortly and we can’t wait to get our hands on them.
