Edinburgh Monarchs

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edinburgh Monarchs
Club information
Track address Armadale Stadium
Bathgate Road
Armadale
West Lothian
Country Scotland Scotland
Founded 1928 (1928)
Team manager    Alan Bridgett
Team captain    Derek Sneddon
League Premier league
Website www.edinburghmonarchs.co
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
England Craig Cook 10.52
Australia Sam Masters 7.43
Australia Max Fricke 5.82
Scotland Derek Sneddon 5.52
United States Aaron Fox 5.00
Australia Justin Sedgmen 4.99
England Steve Worrall 3.00
Total 42.28
Major team honours
Premier League Champions
Premier League KO Cup
Premier Trophy Winners
National League/BL Div 2 Fours Championship
National League KO Cup
Premier League Fours Championship		 2003, 2008, 2010
1997,1999
2008
1981, 1993
1981
2013

The Edinburgh Monarchs are a Scottish Speedway team, currently based in Armadale. They compete in the 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]

Brief history

The club was founded in 1928 and operated at Marine Gardens in 1929, 1930, 1931, 1938 and 1939Portobello. A few team matches were staged in 1929 and an Edinburgh team competed in the Northern League in 1930. The Edinburgh team of 1938 and 1939 was known as The Thistles and they staged a number of challenge matches.

After the war, Marine Gardens was not available and 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 had been 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 Meadowbank 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 en bloc to a new track at Cliftonhill in Coatbridge (much nearer to Glasgow than Edinburgh) and operated as the Coatbridge Monarchs for the 1968 and 1969 seasons 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 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]

2014 Team

2013 Team

Also rode

  • Germany Marcel Helfer

Signed but failed to obtain necessary paperwork

2012 Team

Also Rode

2011 Team

Also rode

2010 Team

Also Rode:

2009 Team

Also rode:

2008 Team

2007 Team

Also Rode

2006 Team

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, 2013

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

Premier League Riders Championship

  • Peter Carr - 1997
  • Craig Cook - 2012

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
  • Andrew Tully - 2012
  • Craig Cook - 2013

References

  1. ↑ Oakes, P (2006). Speedway Star Almanac. Pinegen Ltd. ISBN 0-9552376-1-0. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Henry, J.; Moultray, I. (2001). Speedway in Scotland. Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2229-4. 
  3. ↑ "Campbell hails his 'dream team'". Evening News. 6 October 2003. Retrieved 2007-11-06. 
  4. ↑ "Monarchs handed the title as Rebels fail at Birmingham". Edinburgh Evening News. 2006-09-25. Retrieved 2008-10-02. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Edinburgh Monarchs | Official Club Website". Edinburghspeedway.com. 2008-10-24. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
  6. ↑ "Edinburgh Monarchs | Official Club Website". Edinburghspeedway.com. 2010-05-21. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
  7. ↑ "Edinburgh Monarchs | Official Club Website". Edinburghspeedway.com. 2009-08-21. 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

2014 Teams
Former Teams
Seasons
Domestic Cups
Former Domestic Cups
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.