Armadale Stadium
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Edinburgh Monarchs
It may at first seem a strange choice for a team carrying the name of Edinburgh to be based at a venue that is 20 miles from the city. The reason for this is the fact that when the team was forced out of their home at Powderhall in 1995 there was no venue open to them in their own city and so began a frantic search to find accommodation. For the 1996 season they were offered a home at Glasgow’s Shawfield Stadium which was accepted, racing there for that season before they moved to Armadale and made it their new home.
The Armadale Stadium had been home to Stock Car and Greyhound racing after, no doubt, after some modifications to the existing circuit it was about to become home to a Speedway team. At the first practice session Blair Scott was the first rider ever to take a bike on to the track but the practice must have been a success as the Monarchs moved in for the 1997 season and have remained there ever since. The opening meeting took place on 4 April with a Spring Trophy meeting against their close rivals Glasgow.
Monarchs promotion is in the hands of John Campbell and Alex Harkess on behalf of Edinburgh Speedway (1986) Limited, and since their move to Armadale the team has ridden in the Premier League and are still doing so, they have had been Premier League Champions on three occasions since settling into the Armadale winning the crown in 2003, 2008 and 2010 along with many other awards and titles.
In 2003 the management decided to run a second team out of Armadale, this team was called Armadale Dale Devils and they were entered in the Conference Trophy in 2003 and the Conference League in 2004 and 2005 -
Our thanks to John Jarvis for permission to use information gained from the book ‘Homes of British Speedway and to John Somerville for the programme cover image.