It’s been a strange summer in the east of Scotland with some absolutely beautiful days and some not so great but what has almost been guaranteed is if it’s Friday it is normally raining! This is having an almost disastrous effect on Edinburgh Monarchs Speedway who have had 8 matches postponed and several more adversely affected by the weather already in 2016. Speedway riders can’t see if it’s raining or race on waterlogged tracks so despite the best efforts of the promoters and the volunteer track staff there has only been 3 meetings (out of 10) raced at Armadale since 3rd June.
Every postponement is a 4 figure loss to the promotion and with 9 away fixtures in the same period the cash flow situation of the club has gone from bad to worse and almost to the point of no return. In actual fact if it wasn’t for the support of the innovative fund raising activities the club and its supporters fulfil every week it would be past that already. The Monarchs 100 bridge walk that Scott Wilson and Derek Wilkinson have organised this week is the latest of these and the likes of the MSSC, the Grand Draw, Edinburgh Speedway Videos and others are fundamental to the club. It was recognised 2 years ago that this was still not going to be enough to ensure the future of speedway in the east of Scotland so the Monarchs Fans Trust was set up to help. The Trust has worked hard raising funds and trying to spread the message of speedway in Scotland. The principles of the Trust are to secure the long term future of the club and to help stabilise the finances of the club and it is the latter that is more pressing concern at the moment. The chairman of the Trust Scott Somerville has been attending board meetings of the speedway club and presented a pretty stark position to the committee who immediately agreed to a £7,000 donation in addition to the regular £1,000 monthly contribution in August. This is the 2nd time this summer the Trust has donated extra funds and brings the 2016 total contribution to a staggering £22,000. This does not answer the question of whether or not it is enough and the committee will continue to monitor the situation and donate more when required, there is still money in the coffers but this was a significant percentage of the Trust funds. Full financial details will be available at the AGM on Friday 25th November.
What is clear is that for Edinburgh Speedway to survive the support need to get right behind the team, with rain affected matches bringing lower than average crowds it is paramount that fans turn up in numbers to support the boys. The team have still been successful on track and have some big nights coming up in the form of two visits from nearest rivals Glasgow, a double header with Plymouth and Redcar, current league leaders Somerset and Peterborough bring Monarchs legend Craig Cook back to Armadale. The team are looking good to qualify for the play offs so this should be a very exciting end to the season and the defence of the Premier League title is still a very realistic target. With large crowds bringing back the spirit of 2014 and 2015 it could still be a great year for the Monarchs on the track. Off the track there is harder work ahead but the Trust will do everything it can to ensure there is an Edinburgh Monarchs in 2017, the supporters have backed the Trust superbly so far and with their assistance it can be done but everyone has to get behind the Club right now! Starting with tonight for what looks like a gloriously sunny Friday night at the Speedway.
If you would like to become a member of the Trust then please see the JOIN US page or if you would more information please don’t hesitate to CONTACT US.
Your Team Needs You- photo courtesy of Jack Cupido
