Leitch was born in Glasgow, and received most of his training in
Greenock. He moved to London in 1951, where he worked for the
Daily Mirror newspaper. Leitch worked as a sports journalist, sports editor or columnist at a total of eight newspapers over the course of his career, such as the
Daily Express, the
Manchester Evening News, the
Leicester Mercury and the
Greenock Telegraph, travelling across Europe principally as a
table tennis reporter. For several years up to 1974 Leitch presented and wrote the script for the
Football Preview slot on
Grandstand on a Saturday, previewing the day's matches. This was later to evolve into
Football Focus. replacing
Bryan Cowgill and worked on the
1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the
1974 FIFA World Cup. He additionally worked for West German television, selling
Iron Curtain television spots to the world for Lother Boch's agency. In January 1978, he was appointed controller of sport and outside broadcasts at the London weekday television broadcaster
Thames Television by managing director Cowgill and began work the following month. Leitch was the executive producer of
ITV's coverage of the
1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina. At the time of his death, he was set to be the executive producer of ITV's coverage of the
1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, working with his Thames deputy Paul Lang and
London Weekend Television's controller of sport John Bromley. == Personal life ==