Born: 28.02.1954, Urmston, England
British Clubs: Boston (1973, 1974), Berwick (1974, 1975), Wolverhampton (1975-1980, 1984, 1985), Stoke (1976), Edinburgh (1977-1987), Reading (1980, 1982, 1983), Halifax (1981), Exeter (1988)
Dave Trownson came to Edinburgh because he was a Mike Parker Promotions rider, parent club Wolverhampton - and for 11 seasons he was a huge part of the Powderhall scene with his brave riding and professional outlook.
It was certainly a long haul for a man living in Warrington, but never at any time did he suggest that he didn't fancy making the trip. There was one pre-season when Parker offered him a rider-manager position with Wolverhampton but that fell through, and Dave continued as a Monarch.
He had a speedway background, with the Collins brothers and Chris Morton amongst his schoolmates, and he was a regular on the Belle Vue terraces. He first rode at Hyde Road in 1972, but moved to Boston for his first experience of team action.
It was as a Barracuda that he suffered his first mishap, a fairly serious foot injury, and there were to be a few too many injuries in his career.
What these proved though was his commitment and bravery because he simply never wanted to sit on the sidelines and was always ready to race at the earliest possible time.
He spent two seasons at Shielfield with Berwick in 1974-5, a useful team man who could nip out the starts fairly well. He then decided he might try riding in the top (British) League with Wolverhampton in 1976, but was unlucky enough to break his arm at Stoke before even donning the Wolves' jacket. He missed the complete season. With the Wolves promotion opening in Edinburgh he was an obvious choice for the side, though he may have had doubts about the move when he scored 0 in the Powderhall opening meeting.
He wasn't long in finding his feet however and finished his first Edinburgh season with a 6-point average, one of the main successes of the season.
In each of the next five seasons, Dave raised his average, to a high point of 9.20 in 1982. He was also largely responsible for bring the exciting prospect Neil Collins to the club, spending quite a bit of time on the phone persuading him how much he would learn riding alongside George Hunter.
By the 1980's Dave was a respected heat leader, one of his greatest displays coming in the British League Cup competition when he scored a 15-point maximum against First Division Sheffield, including Shawn Moran). He turned out for Reading in the British League and was part of their 1980 Championship team.
He was always ambitious and never really happy with his performances, though he must have been reasonably pleased in 1982 when his form was outstanding. With assistance from the Eastford Motors sponsorship, he had excellent equipment and scored well everywhere - he was especially effective at tracks like Peterborough and Exeter where Monarchs' men rarely thrive. He qualified for the National League Riders' Championship and scored 7 points. His average dropped slightly in 1983, but he made the NLRC again with another 7 points, but from this point on luck turned against him. He broke one ankle early in 1984, then the other in 1985.
In his final two seasons with Monarchs Dave was a good supporting rider, averageing over 7 behind Les Collins and Doug Wyer. At the end of 1986 Dave had a well-earned Testimonial with Sam Ermolenko as the star attraction, and plenty of other excellent riders. After 1987 it was time to move on, to Exeter where sadly he broke a hip after yet another unlucky crash. He had a spell as Exeter team manager before waving goodbye to the sport.
| Year | Team | Meet | Race | Pts | Bon | Ave | M | Paid |
| 1973 | Boston | 2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 3.33 | ||
| 1974 | Boston | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1.00 | ||
| 1974 | Berwick | 21 | 71 | 77 | 10 | 4.90 | 1 | |
| 1975 | Berwick | 40 | 140 | 152 | 18 | 4.86 | ||
| 1975 | Wolverhampton | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 | ||
| 1976 | Stoke | 1 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 6.00 | ||
| 1976 | Wolverhampton | 3 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 4.00 | ||
| 1977 | Edinburgh | 40 | 151 | 194 | 38 | 6.15 | 2 | |
| 1977 | Wolverhampton | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0.50 | ||
| 1978 | Edinburgh | 40 | 163 | 233 | 34 | 6.55 | 2 | |
| 1978 | Wolverhampton | 3 | 12 | 16 | 3 | 6.33 | ||
| 1979 | Edinburgh | 37 | 166 | 305 | 18 | 7.78 | 1 | |
| 1979 | Wolverhampton | 7 | 26 | 29 | 5 | 5.23 | ||
| 1980 | Edinburgh | 41 | 170 | 332 | 25 | 8.40 | 1 | |
| 1980 | Wolverhampton | 3 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 3.50 | ||
| 1980 | Reading | 7 | 17 | 23 | 8 | 7.29 | ||
| 1981 | Edinburgh | 47 | 198 | 390 | 34 | 8.57 | 1 | 3 |
| 1981 | Halifax | 12 | 49 | 49 | 8 | 4.65 | ||
| 1982 | Edinburgh | 37 | 191 | 420 | 20 | 9.21 | 2 | 1 |
| 1982 | Reading | 15 | 61 | 61 | 10 | 4.66 | ||
| 1983 | Edinburgh | 31 | 156 | 321 | 20 | 8.74 | 1 | 1 |
| 1983 | Reading | 6 | 20 | 13 | 4 | 3.40 | ||
| 1984 | Edinburgh | 10 | 36 | 62 | 7 | 7.67 | 1 | |
| 1984 | Wolverhampton | 3 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 3.20 | ||
| 1985 | Edinburgh | 25 | 95 | 139.5 | 6 | 6.13 | ||
| 1985 | Wolverhampton | 2 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1.14 | ||
| 1986 | Edinburgh | 44 | 171 | 257 | 49 | 7.16 | 3 | |
| 1987 | Edinburgh | 26 | 102 | 150 | 26 | 6.90 | 1 | |
| 1988 | Exeter | 14 | 76 | 106 | 11 | 6.16 |
