Stadium design: A construction specialism in its own right, by Dr Adam O’Rourke

Cape Town StadiuWhat is Archibald Leitch better known for? Film buffs and pub quiz

What is Archibald Leitch better known for? Film buffs and pub quiz aficionados will be thinking of Carey Grant and bemoaning the incorrect spelling of his name. To anyone with an interest in football grounds, he remains the foremost designer of football stands and terraces in the UK.

An engineer and factory architect, Leitch worked for many of our greatest clubs. The majority of his work was carried out during the early part of the 20^th century and at one time, he had worked for 16 of the 22 clubs in the old English first division.  During the 1966 World Cup, all of the stadia used apart from Wembley, contained elements designed by Leitch.  Whilst many of his schemes have been demolished, significant work can still be seen at homes of Glasgow Rangers and Fulham Football Clubs.

My first encounter with a football stadium came in the form of the boys’ pen at Liverpool Football Club. Situated in a corner at the back of the kop, it was a strange place occupied by rival feral teenage gangs from across Liverpool and innocent boys dropped off by their dads. It was a place where you learned to look after yourself. It was certainly not the place to develop an appreciation of stadium architecture.

My interest in stadia was something that evolved over a long period and was subconsciously rooted in watching my team play in numerous stadiums in the UK and Europe. In addition to the football, events took place in and around the various grounds that reinforced this interest. Whilst events at Hillsborough and Heysel will never be forgotten, all football fans from the 70s’ and 80’s will recall individual experiences caused by overcrowding,  inadequate safety measures and ultimately grounds and associated spaces that were not fit for purpose.

It was not until my early 20’s that I realised that there was a genuine interest and it was at this point that I started to visit stadia for purely architectural reasons. Any trip away from home usually involved a visit to one or two local stadiums.  At its peak, after the 1990 world cup, this involved driving from England to Italy on a grand tour of Italian stadia. Simon Inglis’s books ‘The Football Grounds of Britain’ and The Football Ground of Europe’ were favourite reads at that time.

The last 30 years has seen unprecedented levels of stadium development throughout the world and stadium design has become a construction specialism in its own right. Architects and engineering practices have produced some outstanding stadiums. The forthcoming World Cup has given these specialists a further opportunity to show off their skills.

All ten of the stadia offer interest and have their own uniquefeatures, three of these immediately catch the eye; the revamped FNB stadium now known as Soccer City in Johannesburg,  the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban and the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town. What the fans experience will be like is something that we will find out during the coming month. Either way its an exciting time to be a lover of football and architecture.

Dr Adam O’Rourke, senior lecturer in architecture, Nottingham Trent University

To speak to Adam, call the University Press Office directly on 0115 848 8782 or email worldcup@ntu.ac.uk

[To view Nottingham Trent University’s team of World Cup experts go to www.ntu.ac.uk/worldcup]