Alex Harkess: 'You get the bug, that's the trouble with speedway!'

NEWS Saturday 25th July 2020, 5:00pm

by PR Team

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Club Chairman Alex Harkess joined John and Liam for a fascinating Sunday Lunch question and answer session looking back over Alex's extensive involvement in speedway.

Alex's speedway story began, like many Monarchs supporters, at Old Meadowbank, "I started as a spectator as a schoolboy in the early sixties at Meadowbank with some lads from school. I stayed down in East Lothian and the bus left from outside the house and stopped at Old Meadowbank.

"I drifted away for a while, got married, and moved with my job down to Newcastle-under-Lyme. Then suddenly over the other side of the field from the house they started building a speedway track. A few of the boys from my work were going along to help and they said to come along.

"I pushed a wheelbarrow up and down with a spade and a shovel and that was the start of Stoke Speedway at Loomer Road."

Soon after Alex was on the move again, "We came back to Edinburgh and, of course, the Monarchs were at Powderhall. My son, David, came back from school saying some of his pals had gone to speedway and asked if we could go.

"It was as simple as that. As you do at speedway, you tend to stand in the same place and you get to know the same people round about you and you start to talk and that was how I got involved in speedway.

"You get the bug don't you, that's the trouble with speedway! Once you start to enjoy it then you get the bug and you can't stop."

Alex continued on to discuss his long and successful speedway career in an excellent session. If you missed last weekend's Sunday Lunch with Alex, you can watch now over on EMTV.

John and Liam return for another live Sunday Lunch With... question and answer session tomorrow at midday with popular ex-Monarch Theo Pijper (Sunday 26th). Ask your questions now by emailing johnandliam@edinburghmonarchs.co.uk or ask live during the session over on Monarchs Facebook page.