This Friday (weather permitting) we will get what we have been waiting for all winter, the Border Roofing Monarchs on track in competitive action. It will be the 30th season in a row that the Edinburgh promotion will bring the Monarchs to the tapes, this is a fantastic achievement and we are lucky to have them. The Tricentennial trophy will be presented to the match winners on Friday in their honour. They will be the first to say that the community spirit of the fans has helped make this possible in many ways and on some occasions they couldn’t have survived without them. The Trust is now firmly part of this community as we enter our second season supporting the club.

The Trust has made good strides from our inception in February 2015 with some 137 members joining us. The Club ultimately had a neutral year financially last year but by no means was this without its challenges with many sources of funding over and above gate receipts being utilised to help pay the bills e.g. Grand Draw, Edinburgh Video, Sponsorship, Transfer and Trust monies. The Trust contributing a very sizeable £12,000 to the survival of the Club in 2015.

If 2015 was challenging then 2016 will prove even more so, the Club will not have all the same funding streams as last year at its disposal e.g. it won’t have the transfer monies from the sale of Max Fricke. So we as a Trust are under no illusion about the job being done. Far from it we have a way to go before achieving our ultimate aim of the long term future of the club. The beginning of the season comes with many bills so we thought it prudent to help the Club kick start the year by committing £5,000 of Trust funds towards these costs, including likes of a new Ed The Monarch suit and new Club Shop.

This cheque will be presented to the club on Friday night and we will also continue to donate £1,000 per month towards medical costs, starting at the end of April. If you would like to be involved in a cheque presentation then get in touch with our mailbox or with committee member Greer Finnie on Facebook.

Earlier this week it was announced that the Plymouth Devils are closing despite agreeing to run in 2016.  This is a very timely reminder of how fragile the existence is of the vast majority of speedway clubs. We are very privileged to have so many members donating towards the Trust and ultimately to the survival of the Edinburgh Monarchs. The Club and the Trust Committee cannot that you enough.

Home banner – photo courtesy of Ron MacNeill

Friday will also see the supporters banners in use for the first time at the speedway, join in and get involved as we get right behind the 2016 Edinburgh Border Roofing Monarchs. It will be a big challenge for the team against a very strong Belle Vue Aces including 7 time British Champion Scott Nicholls alongside 3 former title winning Monarchs: Stevie Worrall, Max Fricke and Craig Cook. It will be strange to see Cookie line up in white in heat 1 at Armadale but this is what we have been waiting for and it’ll be even better to see Kevin, Erik, Ryan, Jye and Dan in the blue and gold. Ricky Wells and Theo Pijper stand in for Sam and Max in what should be a good night’s racing. 2, 4, 6,  8 ….  you know the rest, see you Friday!

Captain Sam Masters helps display the new Monarchs Banner – photo courtesy of Ron MacNeill

A large turnout of Monarchs fans helped unveil two massive banners at Armadale tonight. These were donated by a Monarchs fan and the Trust hopes that this will add colour and a little extra atmosphere to the build up of Monarchs fixtures. On a cold and gloomy March evening it was fantastic to see so many people there to support this venture and we thank you all for coming along. We were also very pleased to be joined by Monarchs team captain Sam Masters who is acclimatising back to the Scottish weather ahead of the new season.

Home banner – photo courtesy of Ron MacNeill

The intention is that the home banner will be displayed during the parade at Armadale although it is also capable and sturdy enough to be set as a permanent fixture within the stadium. With Fans Trust chairman Scott Somerville conducting this was moved along the 3rd and 4th bend tonight as we got an idea of what it might look like on the 1st April when the Belle Vue Aces are in town.

Both banners have the same design with 5 stars representing the 5 league championship wins. The 2nd banner whilst just as large is a lot more lightweight and flexible enough to be folded into a normal sized back pack. This will enable us to carry it up and down the country to away meetings and make sure the presence of our fans is felt and the home team know the mighty Monarchs are in town. Away wins are what separates the good teams from the rest these days and we hope this will spur the boys on to great things in 2016. A point demonstrated on the night by Scunthorpe who recorded the first away win of the Premier League season in the first match. All things going to plan the Away Banner should make it’s debut at a track not to far from you soon as well.

Away banner – photo courtesy of Ron MacNeill

We would like to emphasize our thanks again to everyone who turned up to support the event and give special thanks to Ron MacNeill for coming along to take photographs and to Sam for making an appearance too.

Unfortunately there wasn’t a huge amount else to see on the night as fog made visibility poor across the stadium from the start; it only got worse as the night went on which inevitably led to the abandonment of the greyhound racing after the 7th race. We would like to thank Billy Cochrane and all his team at Armadale Stadium for allowing us to use the facilities again, facilities they continue to make gradual improvements to.

Next time we are at Armadale there will be the familiar smells and sounds of speedway bikes in the air and it is now only 7 days away! As the banner says this club has been going (with a couple of gaps) since 1948 and the Trust will continue to work hard to try to improve all aspects of Monarchs speedway as we strive to make sure the club lasts another 70 years and beyond.

On Thursday night we will be at Armadale Stadium for the unveiling of a new initiative for the Monarchs Fans Trust and Edinburgh Speedway. This will be during the regular Thursday greyhound racing night where a race on the night will be named after the Trust. We thank the Cochrane family for this and for allowing us to use the stadium again, they have been very supportive to us. On the night we will present the prize to the owner of the dog that wins the race, if you would like to be involved in that please let us know. All you need is a hearty handshake and winning smile.

First race is at 7pm and there is a £6 entry fee, we hope to see many of you there. It will allow us our first glimpse of the track this year as Ronnie Anderson, Doc Bridget and all their fantastic helpers have already been in and working hard on it. They are looking for volunteers this Friday during the day (from 9am until mid afternoon) if anyone has some free time to help out I am sure it would be appreciated. They are also looking for assistance on Press and Practice day which is now only 10 sleeps away, details on the official Monarchs website.

The Monarchs Fans Trust is holding a social event open to all Monarchs Fans on Thursday 17th March 2016 at Armadale Stadium. The regular Thursday night Greyhound racing will be on and we are looking to encourage as many people to come along for a pre-season catch up.

However, there is a twist… we need as many of you to turn up as possible as we need a hand to unveil a colourful new initiative (donated by a Monarchs fan) that will be on display at the stadium. We probably need a minimum of 50 people to help. We believe this is a Club first and is a colourful and interactive initiative.

It would be great if as many of you attended. Everyone is welcome regardless of whether or not you are a member of the Trust.

Entrance fee to the racing is £6.
Gates open 6pm.
Racing starts 7pm.

Santa Claus is on his way tonight and all the good boys and girls across the world will wake up tomorrow with the excitement of a Monarchs Fan on the first night of the speedway season. Thanks to you all he has already delivered for the Trust as our EasyFundraising total smashed through the £500 mark and sits at £530 from 104 followers. This is a tremendous total so far and has been incredibly successful for the Trust. It is amazing how much a difference 1% or 2% can make when we all do it. This costs nothing more than 1 or 2 mouse clicks more when you make purchases online and it is very easy way for anyone to get behind us. You don’t need to be a member of the Trust to contribute this way and it is a great way to get right behind the Monarchs Fans Trust. We thank everyone who has contributed so far and hope you continue to use EasyFundraising in the days ahead as the shops start their inevitable sales.

Merry Christmas to all of our members, friends and followers!