Where are they now? Andy Leitch

15th February


Have you ever wondered what a former Swans player has been up to since hanging up his boots? 

In a regular feature, we catch up with past players to give you the answers.

This week we focus on former Swans striker Andy Leitch, who played 17 league matches and scored six goals for the club between 1975 and 1976.
Leitch is now retired having worked for a printing firm and as a postman.

By his own admission, Andy Leitch struggled when making the jump from non-league to professional football having signed for Swansea City from Paulton Rovers in the summer of 1975.
The striker still managed a decent goals-to-game return, though, with six strikes coming in 17 matches for the Swans before he left the club in February 1976.
He arrived at the Vetch as a result of some scouting work by a local lad who knew a bit about playing up front.
"John Charles came to watch me play for Paulton in the Western League, which was a big compliment in itself given his standing in the game," explains Leitch.
"I'll never forget the moment when he came to discuss me moving to Swansea and was in my front room drinking tea!
"I moved to Swansea on a three-month trial at the start of pre-season to begin with before I signed a professional contract.
"I was 25 years old at the time, so it was late on in my career to be starting out with a Football League club really.
"Having been a non-league player, it was incredible being part of a Football League club. I remember the first day of training, being all overcome just because I was wearing a proper club tracksuit!"
Leitch made his Swansea debut at home to Torquay United in the League Cup in August 1975 and played his first league match for the club away at Rochdale four days later.
Among his goals for the Swans was a double against Crewe Alexandra in a 4-0 win at the Vetch in January 1976, just a month before he was transferred to Minehead.
"They were in the Southern League First Division at the time and doing quite well," recalls Leitch.
"I played about 12 matches and scored 18 goals as we got promoted that campaign (1975-76).
"It was disappointing to have left Swansea having not completed a full season, but I think (then Swans manager) Harry Griffiths realised that full-time football was maybe a bit much for me.
"I never took to the full-time training and he allowed me to move to Minehead.
"My time there was fantastic and we were runners-up to Wimbledon when they got promoted to the Football League in 1977."
Leitch was presented with the opportunity to return to his old club during the 1976-77 season, as Minehead were drawn away to Swansea in the first round of the FA Cup.
"I scored the only goal as we won 1-0," smiles Leitch, thinking back to the 1976 cup tie.
"Only the FA Cup could write that kind of story, with a player going back to his old club and scoring the winner for a non-league team the season after leaving.
"I was really pleased for myself and Minehead, but there was also that feeling of guilt for Harry and the Swansea players, who had been my team-mates less than a year earlier."
Minehead were eliminated from the FA Cup in the following round as Leitch scored once again in a 2-1 defeat at Portsmouth.
Those strikes against Swansea and Pompey came during a run of six consecutive FA Cup matches in which Leitch scored across the 1976-77 and 1977-78 seasons.
He later turned out for the likes of Weymouth, Bath City, Yeovil Town and Forest Green Rovers, for whom he scored twice in a 3-0 FA Vase Final victory over Rainworth Miners Welfare at Wembley Stadium in May 1982.
"Scoring in a cup final at Wembley is going to be the highlight of most footballers' careers and it certainly was mine," says Leitch.
"I remember scoring and thinking 'I don't care if we lose 10-1 now because I've scored at Wembley!'. To score twice and win a trophy was a dream."
Leitch retired from playing in 1985, having also spent brief spells with Gloucester City and Dorchester Town towards the end of his career.
"I moved to Dorset in the mid-1980s and worked for a printing firm called Henry Ling Ltd," says Leitch.
"I did an apprenticeship as a printer when I left school at 16 and I was playing football on the side at the time, so it was always a profession I was likely to end up back in.
"I did that job until I was made redundant five years ago and after that, I became a postman. Halfway through last year though, I retired entirely."