Edinburgh Monarchs

Edinburgh Monarchs
Club information
Track address	Armadale Stadium Bathgate Road Armadale West Lothian
Country	Scotland
Founded	1928
Team manager	Alan Bridgett
Team captain	Matthew Wethers
League	Premier league
Website	Official site
Club facts
Colours	Blue and Gold
Track size	260 meters
Track record time	54.60 seconds
Track record date	22 Sept 2006 / 11 Sept 2009
Track record holder	Theo Pijper / Ryan Fisher
Current Team
Rider	CMA
Matthew Wethers	7.04
Andrew Tully	6.68
Ashley Morris	3.00
Kevin Wölbert	7.96
Craig Cook	6.47
Kalle Katajisto	7.03
Byron Bekker	-
Total	38.18
Major team honours
Premier League Champions Premier League KO Cup Premier Trophy Winners Premier Fours Championship National League KO Cup	2003, 2008, 2010 1997,1999 2008 1981, 1993 1981

The Edinburgh Monarchs are a Scottish Speedway team, currently based in Armadale. They compete in the Speedway Premier League, racing on Friday nights during the Speedway season. The club is run by a Board of Directors, chaired by Alex Harkess. The team manager is Alan "Doc" Bridgett.^[1] The Monarchs are the current Premier League Champions.

Brief history

The club was founded in 1928 and operated at Marine Gardens in Portobello. They competed in the Northern League in 1930. After the war, the potential of Old Meadowbank, then the home of Leith Athletic F.C., is supposed to have been spotted by Ian Hoskins. The Monarchs (Meadowbank Monarchs) were re-established in 1948 by a consortium including Frank Varey, ex rider and Sheffield promoter and R.L.Rae, a local Edinburgh businessman. The team operated at Old Meadowbank 1948 in the National League Second Division until mid-way through to 1954. The team finished at the bottom of the league in 1948 but improved to a best place of third before closure in 1954. Under the promotership of Ian Hoskins from 1960 until 1964 the Monarchs raced in the Provincial League and were founder members of the British League running from 1965 to 1967. The track was used for practice sessions between 1957 - 1959.^[2]

Old Meadowbank Stadium was purchased by the City of Edinburgh Council in 1956 from Leith Athletic. Following their successful bid to host the 1970 Commonwealth Games they decided to go ahead and redevelop the site of the stadium and the surrounding area. The Monarchs were then evicted as Speedway was not incorporated into the new stadium plans due to the government of the day refusing to fund stadiums which would be used by professional sports. The new Stadium sits immediately west of Old Meadowbank essentially on the site of the old running track known as New Meadowbank. The team moved on bloc to a new track at Coatbridge near Glasgow and operated as the Coatbridge Monarchs 1968 - 1969 before the track licence was sold to Wembley.

Speedway returned to Edinburgh in 1977, with the Monarchs racing at Powderhall Stadium from 1977 until 1995. During the 1995 season, the company operating Powerhall Stadium fell into financial difficulty, and the stadium was sold to a housing company for redevelopment, meaning the Monarchs were once again evicted.

In 1996, Monarchs' rivals Glasgow Tigers closed down, so with a stadium not in use in Glasgow, and the Monarchs without a home in Edinburgh, the Monarchs' promotion moved their operation to Shawfield Stadium, Glasgow to form the Scottish Monarchs. Many Tigers fans refused to support their rival team, and although Monarchs fans initially travelled through to Glasgow, crowd numbers soon fell.

In 1997, the Monarchs left Glasgow after gaining permission to operate at Armadale Stadium, where they continue to operate to this day.^[2]

The Monarchs have only won the Premier League championship three times in their history, in 2003^[3] again in 2008^[4] and yet again in 2010.

Edinburgh took part in the first Premier League Promotion Play off in 2008 when they faced Wolverhampton. Although they put up a valiant fight, they lost the tie on aggregate.^[5] Despite finishing runners up in 2009 they faced Belle Vue in the Premier League Promotion Play off losing both legs.

Recent plans for supermarket chain Sainsburys to redevelop Armadale Stadium fell through after their planning application was rejected.^[6]

Edinburgh secured another Premier League title in the 2010 season, their third title in seven years. The Championship was secured by winning away at Stoke's Loomer Road track, with Edinburgh riders Ryan Fisher and Kevin Wölbert going through the card unbeaten.^[5]

2011 Team

• Kevin Wölbert
• Kalle Katajisto
• Andrew Tully
• Matthew Wethers
• Craig Cook
• Kyle Howarth
• Tim Webster

Also rode

• Ashley Morris
• Jay Herne
• Lee Dicken

2010 Team

• Kevin Wölbert
• Ryan Fisher
• Kalle Katajisto
• Andrew Tully
• Matthew Wethers
• William Lawson
• Ashley Morris

Also Rode:

• Cal McDade
• Kyle Howarth
• Jozsef Tabaka
• Max Dilger
• Tobias Busch
• Arlo Bugeja

2009 Team

• Ryan Fisher
• Andrew Tully ^[7]
• Matthew Wethers
• Kevin Wölbert
• Aaron Summers
• Michał Rajkowski
• Kalle Katajisto

Also rode:

• Sean Stoddart
• Max Dilger
• Byron Bekker
• Thomas H.Jonasson

2008 Team

• Ryan Fisher
• Thomas H. Jonasson
• Matthew Wethers
• William Lawson
• Derek Sneddon
• Andrew Tully
• Aaron Summers

2007 Team

• Kai Laukkanen
• Kalle Katajisto
• Matthew Wethers
• George Stancl
• Daniele Tessari
• Derek Sneddon
• Andrew Tully

Also Rode

• Ronnie Correy
• Theo Pijper
• Henrik Moller

2006 Team

• Rusty Harrison
• William Lawson
• Matthew Wethers
• Henrik Moller
• Theo Pijper
• Derek Sneddon
• Sean Stoddart
• Daniel Tessari

Notable riders

• Oyvind Berg
• Dick Campbell
• Peter Carr
• Brian Collins
• Les Collins
• Jimmy Cox
• Don Cuppleditch
• Reidar Eide
• Robert Eriksson
• Bert Harkins
• George Hunter
• Eddie Lack
• Jamie Luckhurst
• Bob Mark
• Kenny McKinna
• Bernie Persson
• Brett Saunders
• Frede Schott
• Doug Templeton
• Dave Trownson
• Doug Wyer
• Jack Young
• Wayne Briggs

Team Honours

Premier League

Champions: 2003, 2008, 2010

Premier Trophy

Winners: 2008

Premier League Knockout Cup

Winners: 1997,1999

Premier League Four-Team Championship

Winners: 1981,1993

National League Knockout Cup

Winners: 1981

National League Pairs

Winners: 1986

Scottish Cup

Winners: 1951, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1977, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010

Queen's Cup

Winners: 1953

North Shield

Winners: 1951

Individual Honours

World Championship

• Jack Young - 1951^[8]

Premier League Riders Championship

• Peter Carr - 1997

Scottish Championship

• Jack Young - 1949, 1950, 1951
• Dick Campbell - 1952
• Doug Templeton - 1960, 1962
• George Hunter - 1964
• Bill Landels - 1966
• Peter Carr - 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002

References

1. ^ Oakes, P (2006). Speedway Star Almanac. Pinegen Ltd. ISBN 0-9552376-1-0. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Speedway in Scotland. Tempus Publishing. 2001. ISBN 0-7524-2229-4. 
3. ^ "Campbell hails his 'dream team'". Evening News. 6 October 2003. http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport.cfm?id=1106972003. Retrieved 2007-11-06. 
4. ^ "Monarchs handed the title as Rebels fail at Birmingham". Edinburgh Evening News. 2006-09-25. http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/Monarchs-handed-the-title-as.4526922.jp. Retrieved 2008-10-02. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "Edinburgh Monarchs | Official Club Website". Edinburghspeedway.com. 2008-10-24. http://www.edinburghspeedway.com/reports/article.asp?id=219. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
6. ^ "Edinburgh Monarchs | Official Club Website". Edinburghspeedway.com. 2010-05-21. http://www.edinburghspeedway.com/news/article.asp?id=861. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
7. ^ "Edinburgh Monarchs | Official Club Website". Edinburghspeedway.com. 2009-08-21. http://www.edinburghspeedway.com/previews/article.asp?id=246. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
8. ^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5

External links

• Official site