Orwell Would Be A Rangers Man

[bmck 117]

Like warts.

 

Anyone'd be forgiven for thinking your mind was made up on the issue MF :spl:

[maineflyer 0]

Anyone'd be forgiven for thinking your mind was made up on the issue MF :spl:

 

No no, just a casual association that found its way on to paper. Almost by itself really. I'm always flexible and willing to manoeuvre in any exchange of views.

[alexscottislegend 2,068]

Andy - I well remember that Orwell essay. I think he was referring to the hi-jacking of sport by the Nationalist/right wing lobby. In which case he was right. The Gers v Dynamo match was ill-tempered and we were unlucky to have got only a draw (ref. Hugh Taylor "We Are the People.")

 

What I am puzzled by is the assertion/inference that he would ever be attracted to the Parkhead school of political correctness. During the Spanish civil War, he maintained a remarkably impartial status, though clearly his sympathies were with the POUM (the Trotskyist wing of the Spanish workers). You need to revisit 'Homage to Catalomia."

[alexscottislegend 2,068]

Eh? It's a fooking dreadful piece of post-bollocks shabbyism. Fabulous on the inside however.

 

Post -bollocks shabbyism - love that.

[Super_Ally 0]

Embarrasing not to know that (or did I really just fake ignorance so we could promote the museum?)

 

Leitch is prominent in a lot of British stadia.

 

He also designed Villa Park or at least some of it. And I believe the main stand (possibly the Holt end where the raucous home fans sit) was also a listed building like the Ibrox facade. I seem to recall that he may have been the architect for Old Trafford but I am less sure of this.

 

There is no doubt a lot more which I think might be revealed on that most trustworthy of sources wikipedia.

[pete 2,499]

Leitch is prominent in a lot of British stadia.

 

He also designed Villa Park or at least some of it. And I believe the main stand (possibly the Holt end where the raucous home fans sit) was also a listed building like the Ibrox facade. I seem to recall that he may have been the architect for Old Trafford but I am less sure of this.

 

There is no doubt a lot more which I think might be revealed on that most trustworthy of sources wikipedia.

 

 

 

In the second book of the Played in Britain series, stadium expert Simon Inglis recalls the life and work of Archibald Leitch (1865-1939), the Scottish engineer whose designs were to football what Frank Matcham was to theatre.

 

Millions of spectators sat or stood in Leitch's structures, built for such famous clubs as Arsenal, Manchester United, Everton, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Hearts and Glasgow Rangers. No other stadium architect can claim such an illustrious list of clients.

 

But while his pedimented gables and criss-cross steelwork balconies formed a recognisable and much-admired style, Leitch remained virtually unknown during his lifetime. Moreover, following the modernisation of stadiums brought on by the Hillsborough disaster, only a handful of his buildings survive, the listed stand and pavilion at Fulham's Craven Cottage in London being perhaps the best known.

 

In this long overdue and affectionate study of Leitch's major works ââ?¬â?? which features many previously unseen original plans and photographs (including plans of the Ibrox Stadium in 1902 where Leitch's career almost came to an abrupt end as a result of football's first major disaster) Inglis seeks to engineer a fascinating account of the man who defined the distinctive look of British football grounds during the first half of the 20th Century.

[andy steel 0]

Andy - I well remember that Orwell essay. I think he was referring to the hi-jacking of sport by the Nationalist/right wing lobby. In which case he was right. The Gers v Dynamo match was ill-tempered and we were unlucky to have got only a draw (ref. Hugh Taylor "We Are the People.")

 

What I am puzzled by is the assertion/inference that he would ever be attracted to the Parkhead school of political correctness. During the Spanish civil War, he maintained a remarkably impartial status, though clearly his sympathies were with the POUM (the Trotskyist wing of the Spanish workers). You need to revisit 'Homage to Catalomia."

 

Ah, so true. I can't deny the accuracy of your criticism. There's a bit (well, quite a lot) of bending facts and opinions to make an article in there. I was hoping no-one would notice, but I was worried. I stand convicted.