SlicktrackSandy

Fully agree with that and indeed 26 years is an eternity in Speedway terms for a club to be able to have continuous residence at the same venue for that amount of time. From memory , the only current Championship teams who have also managed that milestone are Poole and Newcastle. Berwick are still at Shielfield but they did have a break before returning. From that point of view I guess we have been fortunate to have had such an enjoyable and successful spell at Armadale. Whichever part of the Lothians they end up settling for the third time - am sure the Monarchs will survive.......again !

Just 9 points and 2 bonus from 4 Monarchs on their home track is not a statistic to remember fondly - even against a title challenging team like Leicester.

Pretty much crucial that they do just that. Looking at latest green sheets and current form - limiting Leicester to just 1 league point would be a success I reckon. In addition, our top two will have their work cut out against their top three who are all capable of double figure returns. Potentially the best match this season so far as the day's' decent weather appears to favour ideal track conditions.

Looks as if he will be the man this time. There was a film released in the 1960s called "A Man For All Seasons" starring Paul Schofield. In late 2022 we could well see a sequel to that as "A Man For All Reasons" starring Chris Harris ! By the end of the season wonder how many teams will not have included the ever reliable Mr Harris as a guest for whatever reason ? Fingers of one hand maybe ?

Heard the dreadful news at Armadale this evening. Shocked and saddened indeed. Condolences to all his family and friends. Nigel did so much over the years to help promote British Speedway at every opportunity along with Kelvin in their TV broadcasts. Speedway in general owes him a debt of gratitude for the cheerful and enthusiastic way he managed to get all the positive messages across over many years. He will be greatly missed.

The numbers do tell a tale i.e. Devils 4,6 & 7 = Paid 4 pts Bullets 4,6 & 7 = Paid 32 pts.

If the lads continue with their enthusiasm and keep enjoying their racing - gradual improvement will surely follow. The talent is there for all to see. EMTV Livestream purchased for this one and conditions should be near perfect for 7.30 pm. Maybe first night nerves for some, but Mike & Graham are seasoned professionals. They will be just fine !

Yes indeed to that. Teams do look fairly evenly matched - so looking forward to an entertaining first match of the season. Close racing and injury free please. Result ? - In football manager parlance "You have to score more than them to win" - so whoever does exactly that will take the spoils" ( or settle for 45 each ).

Great - Willie's back ! Still the fastest plumber in Scotland and also possibly a better singer than the Christopher version ( allegedly ) !

Well who knows apart from those who know ! Consulted the crystal ball last night but all it was revealing was the white tablecloth underneath, so none the wiser.

Indeed correct. Everyone has their own view on this issue and it seems a very popular one on this site. Maybe you could share your own suggestion with Monarchs Management on April 1st - if you care to pop along to the Season 2022 Launch at Deer Park Country Club, Livingston at 7.30 pm. Prices are £8.00 General Admission £6.00 Blue Card Holders £5.00 Gold Card Holders and Children under 16 y.o. Free

Spot on with that. This is now 2022 and all that it has brought with it - all kinds stuff costs more than we have all been accustomed to in the past. All a question of priorities I guess and what the individual perceives as "value for money". This £20 red line appears on many discussions as a kind of waggy finger no no regarding value, when for example irrigating a wall on a Friday night with at least that amount of high value liquid ( allegedly for some ) would hardly merit discussion. Personally, since retirement and with a near 100 mile round trip, my own budget does not permit attending "live" every week. However, a combination of live streaming with alternate live attendances at matches suits me pretty well and still supports the team with much needed revenue. We, at Edinburgh ( Armadale ) are indeed fortunate to have an excellent live streaming service available to offer to viewers and am sure more tracks will be following this route in the near future.

I doubt if we could even manage that up here. Any young Brit emerging talents seem to migrate in the opposite direction so nae chance on that score. As Alex pointed out in his solemn address, we have 7 guys who actually want to race for the club & that is a good starting point. Last year our 2, 6 & 7 turned in fairly feeble contributions for most of the season, but 2022 looks more promising i.e. potentially an improvement. With Lasse, Jacob & Sarj all fairly close average wise , there is certainly scope for interchanging numbers as the season progresses. In 2021, we still managed to make the Cup Final and Play Off Semi-Final, in spite of our weak points - and maybe that was the best we could have done anyway, as the opposition at that stage was very strong and on form. Same again or one step further would be good next time around !

Yes - just as Kye Thomson this year LF is a bit of a gamble, but it did pay off this time. The way things are shaping up now, a new import 5.00 looks to be on the cards for 2022 also and I think the the management may well have sympathy for Frederiksen's disappointment last year, bearing in mind he was actually pictured in the starting 7. Having said that, we could all be way off the mark and got it completely wrong which is not unknown !

Double thumbs up to that one too ! For the final Fab 4 my choice to keep within the 42.00 points limit would be : Castagna..........5.52 Frederiksen......5.00 Ruml..................4.00 Jsh McDonald...4.00 * * Or Sargeant ...4.10

Purely in the interests of accuracy the date given in the advert is stated as 1952, but that is probably wrong as you have spotted.

I bet that Charlie Monk wishes he had held on to his bike after he retired. I see that a dealer has his 1952 Mattingly Jap up for sale on E Bay for a cool £6,950. Complete with Charlie's nameplate and signature red Tigers dirt guards. Looks a real beauty and brings back memories for those old enough to recall the loud Charlie..Charlie...chants and the thunderous foot stamping in the stand at the old White City. Btw it can be posted for £100 it would appear. A very quiet man was Charlie but some rider in his day and had some great battles with the other top men of that time such as Mauger, Hunter, Briggs, Boothroyd, Squibb, Ivor Brown to name a few. Comments are a bit off topic perhaps, but at least the word "bike" and "retired" are a good excuse to slip in an interesting commercial !

Seem to recall seeing the exact same message some weeks ago. From reading so far,they have been unfortunate with a few knock-backs recently, but Edinburgh PR is usually pretty good at keeping the interest alive , this being somewhat of a departure from the usual. Maybe the sponsors are being kept in the loop but since most other teams are complete now, there is clearly a delay in processing the necessary to allow a reveal ? Maybe Visa issues holding things up possibly or they have not yet fully interrogated the Lucky Dip selection. Looks like 4 gems need to be found before a sigh of relief can be taken.

Shame about that as it has been instantly recognisable for so many years. If you are stuck on keeping the big "C" and blue & white squares - COSMICS is pretty close or METEORS is also close but in a different way.

Not long to go now, so suspense will soon be over. Maybe 3/4 surprises in store - who knows - am now at the stage of giving up even guessing. Safer to wait until the reveal and work with the hand that we have dealt ourselves. If Carlsberg announced a speedway team - this is how they would do it !

Would go along with that from the question of doing the sport any favours aspect. Wonder how many new casual viewers tune in to watch a regular league match or is it a case of catering for the already converted ? Has it actually raised the public awareness of league speedway in any meaningful way ? Better to have something than nothing at all I guess, but certainly the Glasgow, Redcar and Edinburgh livestreams route looked pretty good to me. Those livestreams generally provide more interesting content overall and in a sense more intimate i.e. viewing casual pit shots of activity, relaxed interviews, less manic commentary and other inside info. of interest to the followers of that club. Eurosport rider/manager interviews tend to follow the same familiar format of predictable questions i.e. "How important is it to get off to a good start", "What did the Team Manager say to you all in the huddle" etc. Not forgetting to allow scope for the "Yes, definitely" reply to most questions. Livestreams certainly get the thumbs up from me and hopefully in the future more clubs will be able to afford to do this, as it is a valuable option for those not able to attend in person for all sorts of reasons.

You have a point there , but at present they do pretty well in attracting a few really good partnerships which are crucial to the club's health. If they were ever to move to within the Edinburgh City boundaries, for whatever reason, it is highly likely that sponsorships/partnerships would be likely to increase significantly. It is 25 years since Monarchs were actually based in the City and a lot of things have changed since then as we are all aware.

Just popped on here to see the latest. Personally not overly surprised to see RW jump ship and head back to ride for the celebrated master tactician in Lion country. Of our top four I did feel that he was probably the likeliest to leave and indeed was only included on one of my '22 team sheets for that reason. Have to add that this is one of my very few predictions so far that have come to pass. Sadly, from what I have read on here, the circumstances of his departure appear to have been "unfortunate"- which is always a useful euphemism to use in these kind of situations. Am sure that our trusty management duo will now have things well in hand to provide the Monarchs faithful with a competitive and exciting team for 2022 - with possibly at least one unexpected surprise ( they usually do ).

Would echo all of those thoughts and bearing in mind the Bears stream is still in its infancy as such they did a pretty god job of it imo. Probably all in house streams take a bit to develop the expertise that many viewers expect having being used to TV productions and the occasional professional one. However, like every new venture - you have to start somewhere before you can move forward. In in the case of streaming - if you are fortunate enough have volunteers with IT/Video/Presentation skills to tap and decent equipment you are in a good place to start with. Refinements and new ideas will clearly follow as experience builds, but perhaps most importantly you need the support of the public ( home and away ) who are not able to attend in person. No point in having a good stream if no one is on the other end watching . Personally, I would much rather have the opportunity to watch a live stream than not. If living some distance from the track it still allows the supporter to still feel engaged and also serves to add to a clubs weekly revenue, which is vitally important. That has been clearly demonstrated by the possibility of some Club closures after 2021. Hopefully we can look forward to many more Bears v Monarchs ( and others of course ) streams in the future. Finally for those dirt track enthusiasts whose season has already ended why not clock in to the Edinburgh stream for the remaining October K.O. Cup and Play Off matches which will all be streamed live to your very own living room. The Edinburgh team of John, Liam, Graham , Mike and all those unseen supporting heroes behind the lenses put on a great show every week ( and for NDL also when racing ). You can always support the opposition if Blue & Yellow are not your colours ! Remember - it's a long winter and you will miss your fix after the Premiership Play Offs. Only saying !