Armadale Enter National Development League

NEWS Monday 16th December 2019, 5:00pm

by PR Team

  Edinburgh Monarchs

After an absence of 15 years, Armadale will enter a junior team into the National Development League for the 2020 season.

The Dale Devils, as they were previously known, operated from 2003 to 2005 in the Conference League and enjoyed moderate success. The team won the Conference Trophy in 2005 and kick started the professional careers of popular ex-Monarchs Derek Sneddon and Andrew Tully, plus current Monarch William Lawson and 10-year Monarch Matthew Wethers - all of whom played vital roles in Monarchs' league winning seasons.

The Armadale side will join Belle Vue, Isle of Wight, Kent, Leicester, Mildenhall and Plymouth in a 7 team league offering six fixtures, plus the potential for play-offs.

The new team will be operated by the Edinburgh Monarchs Speedway set up but will be treated as an entirely separate team. The Development League matches will run on Fridays at Armadale Stadium when the senior team would otherwise not be racing.

The new venture into junior racing follows the successful Caledonian Riders' Championship and Northern Junior League Riders' Championship held in recent seasons.

Armadale promoter John Campbell said, "I've always been keen to help develop young talent in Scotland and the time just seemed to be right to get involved in the National Development League again. We've got a few real prospects in the North at the moment that are maybe just too far north to gain a National League opportunity."

"I've been encouraged by the keenness of the young riders I have spoken to about getting involved and I already have an idea of many of the riders who will be in the team. It's an exciting time for the sport in Scotland and, hopefully, a stepping stone to producing many more Scottish riders than we have managed in the last ten years."

More details on the exciting launch of the new team will be announced over the coming months.