Everton have honoured the work of legendary Scottish stadium architect Archibald Leitch in the design of their new 2023/24 home kit.
The club have paid homage to Leitch by featuring his trademark criss-cross balustrade design - synonymous with any match day at the club’s Goodison Park stadium - on the new top’s collar and shirt sleeves.
It's the second time the English Premier League side have paid homage to the Scot, with their Umbro home kit for the 2019-20 season also featuring a design twist inspired by the architect’s distinctive criss-crossed steelwork.
Here is his legacy explained:
Who was Archibald Leitch?
Known as the ‘Godfather of stadium architecture’, his name is written in the history books of British football.
Having started his career in factory design, Camlachie-born Leitch, the son of a blacksmith, moved into stadium design with the commission to build Ibrox Park, the home of boyhood heroes Rangers, in 1899.
As the leader in his field between 1899 and 1939, Leitch designed part of or all of more than 20 stadiums in the UK and Ireland.
What stadiums did he have a hand in designing?
Anfield, Liverpool
Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough
Bramall Lane, Sheffield
Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
Celtic Park, Glasgow
Craven Cottage, West London
Dalymount Park, Dublin
The Den, South London
Dens Park, Dundee
The Dell, Southampton
Ewood Park, Blackburn
Fratton Park, Portsmouth
Goodison Park, Liverpool
Hampden Park, Glasgow
Home Park, Plymouth
Ibrox Park, Glasgow
Highbury, North London
Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield
Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Leeds Road, Huddersfield
Maine Road, Manchester
Molineux, Wolverhampton
Old Trafford, Manchester
Park Avenue, Bradford
Roker Park, Sunderland
Selhurst Park, London
Stamford Bridge, West London
Starks Park, Kirkcaldy
Twickenham Stadium, London
Tynecastle Stadium, Edinburgh
Valley Parade, Bradford
Villa Park, Birmingham
West Ham Stadium, London
White Hart Lane, London
Windsor Park, Belfast
What do we know about his life in Glasgow?
Born in Glasgow on April 27, 1865, on Comleypark Street, Camlachie, Leitch was the fourth of six children of blacksmith Archibald Leitch Sr.
Born on April 27 in 1865, Leitch won a scholarship to Hutchesons’ Grammar School and went on to Anderson’s College to study science. His early professional life saw him hold a variety of engineering jobs across Glasgow
Are there other traces of his work in Glasgow?
Yes, Leitch also designed the Sentinel Works, a patternmaking shop and office for an engineering firm, in 1903. Located in Glasgow’s Polmadie area, it was the earliest reinforced concrete (ferro concrete) building in Scotland.
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