| Edinburgh Monarchs | |||||||||||||||||
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| Track address | Armadale Stadium Bathgate Road Armadale West Lothian | ||||||||||||||||
| Country | Scotland | ||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1928; 97 years ago (1928) | ||||||||||||||||
| Promoter | Alex Harkess & John Campbell | ||||||||||||||||
| Team manager | Alex Harkess & John Campbell | ||||||||||||||||
| Team captain | Michele Paco Castagna | ||||||||||||||||
| League | SGB Championship National Development League | ||||||||||||||||
| Website | official website | ||||||||||||||||
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| Colours | Blue and gold | ||||||||||||||||
| Track size | 260 metres (280 yd) | ||||||||||||||||
| Track record time | 54.0 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Track record date | 30 May 2014 | ||||||||||||||||
| Track record holder | Craig Cook | ||||||||||||||||
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TheEdinburgh Monarchs are a Scottishspeedway team based inArmadale. They compete in theSGB Championship, racing on Friday nights during the speedway season. The club is run by a board of directors, chaired by Alex Harkess and also runs aNational Development League team called the Monarchs Academy.[1][2]
Speedway in Edinburgh began on 19 May 1928, with an open meeting organised by the Scottish Dirt Track Motor Racing Club atMarine Gardens inPortobello.[3] Several team challenge matches were staged during 1929, including visits to London and Newcastle.[4]
The team joinedNorthern League for the 1930 season.[5] Several open meetings were held in 1931 but speedway ceased. TheGreyhound Racing Association secured a lease on New Year's Day 1931, which resulted in the disappearance of speedway for seven years until March 1938, when J. W. Fraser brought it back.[6] In 1939, the team raced in multiple challenge matches and the Union Cup before the season ended early due to the outbreak ofwar.
Marine Gardens was used for military purposes during the war and never re-opened as a sports venue but the potential ofOld Meadowbank, then the home ofLeith Athletic F.C., was said 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. They applied to the Speedway Control Board to participate in the1948 Speedway National League Division Two[7] but finished bottom of the league that season. They did however improve to 5th place afterJack Young was signed to supportDick Campbell. Young would become twice world champion in 1951 ad 1952, the first of those titles was won as an Edinburgh rider.
The team continued to operate at Old Meadowbank in the National League Second Division, securing a 3rd place finish in1951, with Jack Young setting the league's leading average.[8] Mid-way through the 1954 season the club withdrew from the league citing financial losses and Frank Varey also resigned.[9] Old Meadowbank Stadium had been purchased by the City of Edinburgh Council from Leith Athletic in 1956 and the track was used for practice sessions between 1957 and 1959.[10]
With the creation of the newProvincial League in 1960, Edinburgh Monarchs returned to action under the new promotion of Ian Hoskins, following a six-year absence.[11] New riders for 1960 included the Templeton brothersDoug andWillie, andGeorge Hunter, joined in later seasons byBert Harkins andBill Landels.
Five years of Provincial league speedway brought little success but George Hunter did top the league averages during the1963 season[8] and the team retained the practice of employing primarily Scottish riders. The Monarchs raced in and were founder members of the newly createdBritish League from1965. The league was the highest division of speedway in the United Kingdom and the it was first time that Edinburgh had competed in the top tier. The Monarchs struggled somewhat in the division but did achieve a very respectable fourth in 1967 led by SwedeBernt Persson.
In August 1966, Edinburgh won the bid to host the1970 Commonwealth Games, which included plans to redevelop the site of the stadium and surrounding area. The Monarchs were evicted as speedway was not incorporated into the newMeadowbank Stadium plans due to the government of the day refusing to fund stadia which would be used by professional sports. The Monarchs moved en bloc to a new track atCliftonhill, Coatbridge (nearer to Glasgow than Edinburgh) and operated as the Coatbridge Monarchs for the 1968 and 1969 seasons before the track licence was sold toWembley by B.R. Cottrell and Trevor Redman.[12]
Speedway returned to Edinburgh in 1977, with the Monarchs finding a home atPowderhall Stadium. The return after missing another seven years required significant changes to the greyhound racing venue and Mike Parker spent £30,000 on renovation. Bert Harkins returned as captain of the club[13]
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George Hunter came back to the club in 1980 andNeil Collins was signed which led to a 5th place finish. The following season in 1981, the long wait for silverware ended when the team won theKnockout Cup[14] andfours championship final, held at theEast of England Arena on 26 July.[15][16] Unfortunately, the only other success during the decade was winning the pairs championship in 1986, with Doug Wyer and new signingLes Collins.[17][18]
The Monarchs enjoyed a better start of the 1990s with a 4th place finish in 1991 and a third in 1994. In-between the team of Les Collins,Kenny McKinna,Michael Coles andScott Lamb won the fours championship final, held at the East of England Arena on 25 July.[19]
During the 1995 season, the company operating Powderhall ran into financial difficulty, and the stadium was sold to a housing company for redevelopment.[20] This meant the Monarchs were again evicted. In 1996, the Monarchs' rivalsGlasgow Tigers closed down, so with a stadium not in use in Glasgow, and the Monarchs without a home in Edinburgh, the Monarchs' moved toShawfield Stadium, Glasgow to form the Scottish Monarchs. Many Tigers fans refused to support what they saw as a team of old rivals, and although Monarchs fans initially travelled through to Glasgow, crowd numbers soon fell.
A fresh start arrived in 1997 when the Monarchs left Glasgow after gaining permission to operate atArmadale Stadium.[10] The club signedPeter Carr and retained Kenny McKinna andRobert Eriksson, finishing 3rd in the league.
The Monarchs experienced a period of success, starting by winning thePremier League in 2003 with relative ease.[21] Led byFrede Schött and Peter Carr, the team won with a nine point cushion fromSheffield Tigers.
Another Premier Division title arrived in 2008,[22] which resulted in the Monarchs taking part in the first promotion/relegation play-off when they faced Wolverhampton.[23]Ryan Fisher,Matthew Wethers andWilliam Lawson starred during the season.
Edinburgh secured another Premier League title in the 2010 season, their third in seven years.[24] They later won thePremier League Four-Team Championship, held on 14 July 2013, at theEast of England Arena[25]
The2014 season was Monarchs best season to date, led byCraig Cook andSam Masters the team won the treble of League, Knockout Cup and League Cup,[26] while going on a 27 match unbeaten run. Masters andMax Fricke also won the Premier Pairs.[27][28]
The success continued in 2015, when the Monarchs became the first team to win consecutive Premier League titles, by beating theGlasgow Tigers in the Grand Final. The Tigers held a 7-point lead after the first leg at Ashfield, but the Monarchs won 14 of the 15 heats in the second leg at Armadale, winning 99–80 on aggregate.[29] It was one of three titles won by the Monarchs in 2015; in the Premier League Cup, the Monarchs beat the Tigers again,[30] while the quartet of Cook, Masters,Erik Riss andJustin Sedgmen won the Premier League Fours.[31] Changes due to points/averages restrictions resulted in a much quieter period for the team from 2016 to 2019.
Following a season lost to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the Monarchs reached the final of the 2021 Knockout Cup and Sam Masters topped the 2022 league averages but issues surrounding their home venue surfaced.[32] However, the team continued to race at Armadale in 2023 and 2024.[33]
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2006 team
2007 team Also Rode 2008 team 2009 team Also rode:
2010 team Also Rode: 2011 team Also rode 2012 team Also Rode 2013 team Also rode Signed but failed to obtain necessary paperwork 2014 team 2015 team 2016 team Also rode 2017 team 2018 team Also Rode 2019 team Also Rode 2021 team 2022 team |
Dick Campbell
Michael ColesLes CollinsCraig Cook
Robert Eriksson
Ryan Fisher
Bert HarkinsGeorge HunterScott LambBill Landels
Sam MastersWilliam LawsonKenny McKinnaBernt PerssonJosh PickeringBrett Saunders
Frede SchöttDoug TempletonWillie TempletonDave TrownsonChris TurnerMatthew Wethers
Kevin WölbertJack YoungChampionships won while an Edinburgh Monarchs rider.
Jack Young –1951[35] – The firstsecond division rider to becomeSpeedway World ChampionPremier League Riders' Championship
Peter Carr – 1997Craig Cook – 2012Scottish Championship
Jack Young – 1949, 1950, 1951Dick Campbell – 1952Doug Templeton – 1960, 1962George Hunter – 1964Bill Landels – 1966Peter Carr – 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002Andrew Tully – 2012Craig Cook – 2013Sam Masters – 2014Sam Masters – 2017| 2024 Teams |  | |
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