GREETINGS FROM UNCLE ‘B’

NEWS Monday 9th February 2015, 7:02pm

by Brian Gray

  Edinburgh Monarchs

After a spell of relative inactivity on the news front, this last couple of weeks has seen a burst of items of interest to Monarchs fans so let's have a look!

At long last, Theo Pijper now has a date for his much anticipated testimonial! Friday, 20th March 2015 is the date at Armadale which will now be our opening meeting. I haven't heard what the likely format will be but I hope Theo invites some of his longtrack and grasstrack pals to Scotland. Be interesting to see them tackle our track!

They've done it again! Who have? Well, Sam and Max have won another best pairs title! This time it's the Undera pairs in Australia. There's just no stopping these guys!

I was sad to hear that Scotwaste are not extending their team sponsorship to a tenth season. At the same time I read that the Berwick Bandits have secured a new sponsor of their own which is great news for them. British speedway clubs are so used to now having a team sponsor that it'll seem strange if we don't have one this year so, if you know of a company who might be interested in forming an association with a record breaking sports club, then get in touch with us!

I've been having a chat with our man at the track, Ronnie Anderson, and he tells me that preparation is on schedule for our first meeting on March 20th. The weather's not been too bad this winter. Let's hope it stays that way! He's looking at the riders' changing rooms to see what can be done to improve the facilities. New seating is to be installed and better showers are needed. Cold water showers never did me any harm when I was younger!

I wanted to say thanks to everyone who has informed me of their wish to continue helping in 2015. I'm putting together a list so that we can best utilize our resources and make our meetings tick over smoothly. If you have still to confirm then please get in touch. Thanks also to the newcomers who wish to be considered. You are all wonderful!

Well, I'm starting to look forward to the start of the new season. It's only four weeks to the Ben Fund meeting at Swindon on March 8th but, before that, we've got the Video Night to look forward to so I'll catch you in Leith. Meanwhile, be good and take care!

Uncle ‘B’