Name William Leitch | Role Footballer | |
William Douglas Leitch (16 December 1863 – 24 May 1943 ), born in Hobart to Scottish immigrants John Leitch and Jean McCrone, was a Tasmanian footballer, businessman and sports administrator. Leitch was an employee and later board of directors member of Henry Jones's IXL jam manufacturing business; taking his first job at the company at the age of only ten and working there until his death, he gave almost seventy years continuous service.
In his youth Leitch was a highly regarded Australian Rules football player at the Railway Football Club. In later life he was a patron of Australian rules football in Tasmania, and was a long-time Tasmanian delegate to the Australian National Football Council. The William Leitch Medal for the fairest and best player in the Tasmanian Australian National Football League was named in his honour.