The British Speedway Promoters' Association issued the Premier League fixtures on Tuesday. They were also published in the Edinburgh Evening News on Tuesday. Regular readers of this website will of course have already seen the fixtures which were posted on Saturday night.
Monarchs open with a challenge at Berwick on Saturday March 17th followed by the first leg of the Spring Trophy at Glasgow on Sunday March 18th. The Armadale opener is the return leg of the Spring Trophy on Friday 23rd March.
Monarchs then go straight into their Premier National Trophy Northern Group matches. There are seven rounds of fixtures commencing with the two matches against Stoke on the last weekend in March. The group matches should be completed by early May.
Then Monarchs face Newcastle in the first round of the Premier League Cup. That is a tough task in the competition that Monarchs have had enjoyed most success in recent years.
The Premier League campaign gets under way towards the end of May with a tour to Hull and Swindon. Newcomers Trelawny Tigers provide the opposition in the first Premier League match at Armadale. The Premier League matches are scheduled to continue until the middle of September. There are a couple of reserved days to cover possible second and third round Cup ties.
The Scottish Cup against Glasgow is pencilled in for the end of September. October is reserved for Young Shield play-off matches.
There are two individual events in the schedule. The Scottish Open is set for July 20th while the Scottish Riders Championship pencilled in for October 19th.
The Armadale season will include 7 Premier National Trophy Northern Group qualifiers, 14 Premier League matches, between 1 and 4 Premier League Cup matches, up to 3 Young Shield matches. Add in a possible 2 Premier National Trophy knock-out matches, 2 individual events an 2 challenge matches and it could be the busiest ever season at Armadale. This is because with 15 tracks, the Premier League is bigger than ever before. This will make season tickets even better value than ever.
Should Monarchs progress in both the Premier League Cup and the Premier National Trophy there is a possibility that certain fixtures might be squeezed out to accommodate the extra matches.
Read how the Edinburgh Evening News covered this story: