Edinburgh Monarchs bolster team with Michael Palm Toft signing

The club has announced the signing of experienced heat leader Michael Palm Toft, replacing the recently departed Oskar Polis.

Michael Palm Toft

However, the 34-year-old won't make his debut in tonight's first-leg tie at Armadale - or tomorrow's return encounter at Ashfield - and will instead don the Blue and Gold for the first time when the Oxford Cheetahs visit next Friday on Championship duty.

Monarchs were left in turmoil when Polis, a marquee signing over the winter, decided to quit the Capital outfit with the new season barely six weeks old.

However, the addition of Danish rider Palm Toft is a more than an adequate replacement. The Scandinavian is no stranger to British speedway having previously represented the likes of the Scunthorpe Scorpions and Redcar Bears.

Palm Toft found himself without a team for the 2025 campaign so the timing for both parties couldn't have been better.

"I did actually have a contract on the table from a club," he explained. "They then made a 180-degree change last minute and said they didn't want to agree to the terms we had agreed to. So, I got told take it or leave it, so I said well I'll leave it then.

"I am really looking forward to getting to ride for the Monarchs. It has been a few years we have been talking back and forth but nothing has really come out of it. I guess circumstances has made it possible now. Here we are, and I can't wait to get started.

"There are a lot of good riders in the team that can score well home and away as they have a lot of experience. I think it is only really Jonatan Grahn who is new to British Speedway so I think we will be one of the better teams the rest of the way. And when I get going back to full power, it will be good to be in with the rest of the boys as well and I think we can go well.

"I am really looking forward to calling Armadale my home track and making something out of it for myself and making it a home fortress."