Poole Pirates (also known as Poole Speedway) are a

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

team based in

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

, England, competing in the SGB Championship. The club have been the champions of the United Kingdom on ten occasions. Poole Speedway is promoted by local businessman Matt Ford and son Danny Ford, who took over promoting rights of the club in 1998. The team is managed by past rider and former Great Britain team manager Neil Middleditch. Wimborne Road Stadium has been home to the club since it was founded in 1948. In August 2004, Poole hosted the Speedway World Cup final, which was won by

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Stadium

Poole Stadium (also known as Wimborne Road Stadium), has been the Pirates' home track since the club was created in 1948. It is situated near to the town centre and is owned by Poole Borough Council. The stadium's capacity was limited to 5,500 people in 2008 for safety reasons. Prior to 1948, the stadium had been used as a cycle track and had been home to Poole Town Football Club since 1933. There is an all seater grandstand on the home straight, and a glass fronted grandstand on the back straight. The viewing areas on the track bends are un-sheltered and standing only. At the start of 1948 the tarmac cycle track was dug up and replaced with a speedway track. A steel safety fence was erected around the outside of the track and the football pitch remained within the centre of the track. The first speedway meeting took place in the stadium on 26 April 1948, in tragic circumstances. The match against the Yarmouth Bloaters, which Poole won 74–32, saw Yarmouth's

Reg Craven Reg or REG may refer to: * Reginald (disambiguation) * Reg or desert pavement * Raising for Effective Giving, a charity * Random event generator (parapsychology) * Raptor Education Group * Regal Entertainment Group * Regular language * .reg MS Wind ...

killed in the first race in the very first match at the track. A sheltered 1,100 seat grandstand was erected on the home straight in 1960 and is still in use. The terracing on the back straight of the speedway track was demolished in 1997 and replaced with a new glass fronted grandstand incorporating a 440 seat restaurant, two bars, Tote betting facilities and multiple viewing screens. The speedway track was reduced in size to to accommodate a new greyhound track. Stadia UK were issued a long term lease on the stadium by the council, with the Pirates promotion sub-leasing use of the stadium and facilities from Stadia UK. In 2004, Poole Stadium was chosen to host the Speedway World Cup final by organiser Benfield Sports International (BSI). Poole hosted the race-off on 5 August, in which Sweden and Poland progressed to the final. The final took place on 7 August with

becoming World Champions, defeating Great Britain into second place by one point. Temporary stands were erected around the corners of the track to provide 2,200 extra seats. The official attendance figure at the stadium for the final was 7,131.

History

1947–1964

In 1947,

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

based Exeter Falcons riders Tommy Crutcher and Charlie Hayden created a consortium, which also included Crutcher's brother Jack and Herby Hayden, with the aim of opening a speedway club closer to their home. The consortium applied to Poole Borough Council in 1947 to stage speedway racing in the town and the council approved their request on 6 January 1948. The Pirates lined up for their inaugural season as members of the National League Division Three. Tony Lewis was signed in 1949 and Ken Middleditch signed from Hastings in 1950, and they formed an effective pairing for the Pirates. Poole won their first title in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

and were promoted to the National League Division Two. Brian Crutcher signed for Poole in 1951 and the following year he became the first Poole rider to reach a World Speedway Final in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

. Poole won the Division Two title at the first attempt, but were denied First Division status by the

Speedway Control Board The Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), known as the Speedway Control Board between 1948 and 2002, governs the sport of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom on behalf of the Auto Cycle Union (ACU). The directors are appointed by the ACU and Br ...

, who claimed that Poole were not a big enough club to be able to sustain top flight racing. The following two years (1953 and 1954) saw the Pirates narrowly finishing as Division Two runners up and Brian Crutcher left Poole to sign for National League team Wembley at the start of the 1953 season. In 1955, the Pirates again won the Division Two Championship and were allowed promotion to Division One of the National League, becoming the only club to ever have won promotion from the bottom league to the top tier. However, by the end of the 1956 season, the Poole promoters closed the club, blaming poor attendances and the introduction of fuel rationing due to the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

. Despite losing their league status, Poole Stadium continued to stage meetings during 1957, including two National League meetings. Rayleigh Rockets promoter Vic Gooden took over the promoting rights of Poole at the end of the year and Poole rejoined the National League in 1958. Southampton Saints promoter Charles Knott took over from Gooden in 1960 and brought back the successful pairing of Middleditch and Lewis. Ross Gilbertson was also signed and Geoff Mudge was brought over from Australia. The stadium was redeveloped and the track was made slightly smaller to accommodate a

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...

track. Also that year, the speedway league structure was re-formed and Poole opted to join the newly formed Provincial League. Poole finished joint top of the table with Rayleigh, but lost out on points difference. Success returned to Poole with the Provincial League title in 1961 and 1962.

1965–1996

Following a power struggle between the

and speedway club promoters, the British League was formed in 1965. Poole joined the British League (the top league Division) with 18 other teams and remained there for the next 20 years. They won the British League title in 1969 with Pete Smith, who would eventually go on to score over 3,287 points for the club, the biggest contributor. Smith was supported with contributions from team captain Geoff Mudge, Bruce Cribb, Gordon Guasco, Frank Shuter and

Odd Fossengen Odd Fossengen (27 February 1945 – 29 December 2017) was a Norway, Norwegian international motorcycle speedway rider. Career Summary Fossengen signed for the Poole Pirates in 1968 following a successful trial with the club and he proved to be ...

who was in his second year at Poole and would become a fans favourite. Major changes in personnel took place in 1974, with the arrival of riders such as

Colin Gooddy Colin William Gooddy (22 June 1933 – 13 April 2019) was an international motorcycle speedway rider for the England national speedway team. Speedway career Gooddy rode in the top tier of British Speedway from 1955-1977, riding for various c ...

and Neil Middleditch, son of former rider Ken Middleditch. In 1975, Poole completed the signing of Malcolm Simmons from

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

. Simmons finished top of the Poole riders averages for the next six seasons and in 1976 finished in second place at the Speedway World Championship. Mid-way through the 1979 season, Reg Fearman bought the promoting rights and continued to run the club until 1984 when financial problems forced the club to close. The club was rescued by the then Weymouth Wildcats promoters Peter Ansell and Mervyn Stewkesbury, who moved their team to Poole for the start of the 1985 season. The team name was changed to the Poole Wildcats and they entered the National League – the second league tier of speedway. The name change proved to be unpopular and was reverted to the Poole Pirates after two seasons. Australian manager Neil Street was appointed as Poole team manager and an influx of young Australian riders began, including Craig Boyce and Leigh Adams in 1988. Poole finished as National League runners up 1988, were National League champions in 1989, and then won a League and Knockout Cup double in 1990, led by captain Alun Rossiter. After the 1990 season, the leagues were re-structured and Poole re-joined the top flight of speedway – the British League. Poole won the league championship in 1994 led by Boyce, 1993 signing Lars Gunnestad and a young Jason Crump, grandson of manager Neil Street. In 1997 the structure of the leagues was once again changed with Poole joining the Elite League.

1997–2019

Poole initially struggled in the Elite League and were sold to local businessmen Matt Ford and Mike Golding in 1998. In a clear out at the club, only Magnus Zetterström remained from the 1998 season and Neil Street was replaced as manager by former rider Neil Middleditch. Craig Boyce left for Oxford, Lee Richardson was signed from Reading, Gary Havelock was brought in as Captain and Mark Loram was signed from Wolverhampton. Loram was to become the first Pirate to lift the World Championship title with his success in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. Poole finished as Elite League runners up in 1999 and 2001. Tony Rickardsson joined Poole in 2001 and won the World Championship that year and the year after. Leigh Adams joined in 2003 and together they spearheaded the team to a triple championship of Elite League,

Knockout Cup A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

and the British League Cup. The Pirates followed up 2003 with another successful year in 2004 despite the loss of

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

riders Adams and Rickardsson. Solid point scoring from Bjarne Pedersen, Antonio Lindback and Ryan Sullivan led Poole to an Elite League and Knockout Cup double and Poole became the first top flight club to achieve back to back League and Cup doubles since 1960. The Pirates won their third Elite League championship in 2008, defeating the Lakeside Hammers in the play-off final with an aggregate score of 108–75. in 2011 the Poole pirates dominated the league, spearheaded by Chris Holder and Darcy Ward, and finished the season off by defeating the Eastbourne Eagles in the play-off final. Poole operated an additional team, Bournemouth Buccaneers, in the National League in 2009 and 2010. Despite successful seasons on track, spectator support was disappointing and the operation was terminated. The success of Poole continued with a

win in 2012 and being crowned champions in three successive years during the

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

seasons. The team won their tenth highest league title after winning the SGB Premiership 2018.

2020–Present

In 2020, the leagues were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Pirates did not make their expected debut in the SGB Championship (second division). The following season in 2021, the Pirates finished top of the regular season table and secured a place in the playoff semi finals. Poole duly won their playoff semi final against Leicester and met Glasgow in the final. Shortly afterwards the Pirates won the division 2

for the third time in their history and then completed the league and cup double by winning the Play off final. The following season in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, the success continued as the team dominated again, winning the SGB Championship and Knockout Cup 'double double'. The success continued as the Pirates won the BSN Series during the

SGB Championship 2023 The 2023 SGB Cab Direct Championship season will be the 76th season of the second tier of British Speedway and the 6th known as the SGB Championship. The British Speedway Network (BSN) would stream 35 matches live for the second year running. S ...

Season summary

Season Summary (Juniors)

Honours

''League'' *FIM World Speedway League **Runners Up (1): 2014 * British League/ Elite League/ SGB Premiership **Winners (10):

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

* National League Division Two/ Provincial League/ National League/ SGB Championship **Winners (7):

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

* National League Division Three **Winners (1):

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, c ...

'' * Elite League Knockout Cup **Winners (5):

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

*National Trophy/ National League Knockout Cup/ SGB Championship Knockout Cup **Winners (5):

*British League Cup **Winners (1): 2003 * Craven Shield **Winners (3):

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

* Elite Shield/Premiership Shield **Winners (6): 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 & 2019 * Elite League Pairs Championship **Winners (3): 2007, 2009 & 2011

World Champions

Mark Loram was the first Poole rider to win the Speedway World Championship with his success in

. Tony Rickardsson joined Poole in 2001 following Loram's departure to Peterborough, and won the World Championship in

and

while riding for the Pirates. Chris Holder is the latest World Champion to ride for the Pirates securing his first Speedway Grand Prix title in October

. Malcolm Simmons won the World Pairs Championship for England three times during his Poole career in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

and

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

, he also won the World Team Cup in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

and

. Antonio Lindbäck won the Speedway World Cup in for

, and Denmark's Bjarne Pedersen has won the World Cup on two occasions; in

and

. Australian Jason Crump was the first Pirate to win the Speedway World Under 21 Championship in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

. England's Lee Richardson (

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

), Poland's Krzysztof Kasprzak (

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

) and Australian Darcy Ward (

) have also won the World Under 21 Championship while riding for Poole.

Notable former riders

The following riders have been voted into the Pirates

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

by supporters:

Testimonial riders

Seven Poole riders have received testimonials at the club, usually for being a Poole asset for 10 years or more. * 1976 Pete Smith * 1984 Neil Middleditch * 1995

Steve Schofield Steve Schofield is a British photographer. He is primarily known for his portraits, especially his narrative portrait style of photography. Some of his photographs of actors, musicians, and writers are included in the London National Portrait G ...

* 2000 Alun Rossiter * 2001 Lars Gunnestad * 2003 Craig Boyce * 2005 Magnus Zetterström * 2009 Bjarne Pedersen * 2011

Davey Watt David John Watt (born 6 January 1978 in Townsville, Queensland) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from Australia. He won the Queensland state championship in 2005 and was a member of the Australian team that finished second ...

References

{{SGB Championship Speedway Elite League teams Sport in Poole Sport in Dorset SGB Championship teams