Poole 2026

[poole keith]

Would have walked if he could have found a buyer pitgate

[YeOldPitGate]

2 hours ago, poole keith said:

Would have walked if he could have found a buyer pitgate

I agree Keith I'm merely saying the best chance was when he had Holder and Ward in their prime and he had a six figure sponsorship on the go starting with a two that was prime exit time.

Now days you would really have to give a club away most are worthless, I don't know Matt Fird but he strikes me as very shrewd so I think he must have a big affection for the pirates as I'm sure with his business acumen he could make way more money putting his time into another venture than he makes out of speedway these days.

[Arthur54]

Poole voted team of the year at the 

WSRA awards at Leicester tonight 

[SteveLyric2]

17 minutes ago, Arthur54 said:

Poole voted team of the year at the 

WSRA awards at Leicester tonight 

Award collected by Middlo and Will Cairns.

 

[foreverblue]

21 hours ago, STEVEHOLS54 said:

That's 3 definitely signed already then with Rowe & Cairns already signed prior to 2025 season started on 2 year deals as informed by Danny Ford when he signed both.

Also on Beau Bailey I see he announced he has signed in POL for 2026 for GKM Grudiadz in POL EXL as their U21 foreign rider plus also in their U24 team. That's some Tuesdays tied up for certain but no different to Cairns who did 8 matches for Z.Gora after he turned 16 end of June. 

Of course Bailey needs to qualify from one of the several State Champs or from Aussie U21  or Aussie main Champ to ride UK.

Not completely sure about these two year deals, considering a team can get rid of a rider mid season if he is not performing well how can a two year deal be totally binding? Of course we all expect them to be back and there is no reason why they would not be but surely we cannot be completely certain.  I like Anders and in my opinion has the ability to go a long way in the sport, I hope he is back in the team but I can not see how it can be definitely nailed on.

[Glen]

All this talk of top riders and their value to the U.K. how do the Poole crowd numbers differ from now to when say Holder and Ward were riding? 

[foreverblue]

22 minutes ago, Glen said:

All this talk of top riders and their value to the U.K. how do the Poole crowd numbers differ from now to when say Holder and Ward were riding? 

Not much different I would say. So its a bit of a no brainer, it is almost certainly more profitable in the Championship.

[Neila]

1 hour ago, Glen said:

All this talk of top riders and their value to the U.K. how do the Poole crowd numbers differ from now to when say Holder and Ward were riding? 

Imo similar sized crowds, but paying less to the riders one league down, so Matt ford very happy as he makes more money 

[LisaColette]

1 hour ago, Glen said:

All this talk of top riders and their value to the U.K. how do the Poole crowd numbers differ from now to when say Holder and Ward were riding? 

 

1 hour ago, foreverblue said:

Not much different I would say. So its a bit of a no brainer, it is almost certainly more profitable in the Championship.

 

26 minutes ago, Neila said:

Imo similar sized crowds, but paying less to the riders one league down, so Matt ford very happy as he makes more money 

If you watch some of the 'Darcy Ward's best races at Poole' youtube video, there is more fans watching near bends 1 and 4 then there is now, so probably 1k less. But I think everyone had bigger crowds between 2010-2015 than they do now anyway. 

Edited 7 hours ago by LisaColette

[poole keith]

Agree lisa definitely bigger crowds in the ward/holder era 

[Nickinho]

15 hours ago, Arthur54 said:

Poole voted team of the year at the 

WSRA awards at Leicester tonight 

Plymouth were robbed again.

[Nickinho]

27 minutes ago, poole keith said:

Agree lisa definitely bigger crowds in the ward/holder era 

Bigger crowds in speedway in general back then.

[SteveLyric2]

Much bigger crowds in the Boyce, Rosco, Schofield, Langdon, Allan days!!  ( The old National League too!!)

[Bald Bloke]

19 hours ago, YeOldPitGate said:

I think he would have walked years ago if that was the case when Ward and Holder were in their prime and Sky were still involved.

He had it up for sale ,rumours of him wanting £500k 🙂

On 11/7/2025 at 11:04 PM, foreverblue said:

Matt Ford loves speedway but as a businessman also wants us to make a profit, shocking!!

Of course he is perfectly entitled to make a profit. 

 But most promoter's/ owners seem scrimp and scrape, often putting their own money in from other businesses to keep their team going. I would say they  love the sport, not someone who said if the club don't make money, then he will be gone!!

He likes to sign up the top kids coming through, but doesn't do much for the development of young riders either imho.

Just my opinion of course, and we all have one.. 

 

 

 

 

[STEVEHOLS54]

just saw some photos of the Poole end of season function. Was surprised to see Zach Cook in the photos as thought he had gone home to Aussie just after the BSN Final ??

Any comments on him definitely not doing Champ next season. Also with various comments on the Forum pages about the Wed BSPA AGM being postponed maybe until 30th or even later (Jan), was there any news on offer if it is still due to be this coming Wed ??

Would have thought some news on both would have come out on the Forum by now. Besides Lawson signing for 2026.

[YeOldPitGate]

7 hours ago, foreverblue said:

Not much different I would say. So its a bit of a no brainer, it is almost certainly more profitable in the Championship.

Its just the case Speedway was on a bit more of an up when Holder and Ward were about Sky were still involved and Matt had the big sponsorship deal, they are still probably one of the best run clubs in the second division but its just the state of the sport in general now meaning you would be lucky to find a buyer that would offer anything other than buttons.

[YeOldPitGate]

4 hours ago, Bald Bloke said:

He had it up for sale ,rumours of him wanting £500k 🙂

Of course he is perfectly entitled to make a profit. 

 But most promoter's/ owners seem scrimp and scrape, often putting their own money in from other businesses to keep their team going. I would say they  love the sport, not someone who said if the club don't make money, then he will be gone!!

He likes to sign up the top kids coming through, but doesn't do much for the development of young riders either imho.

Just my opinion of course, and we all have one.. 

 

 

 

 

Shows how times have changed Bald Bloke I reckon £5k would be pushing it now days.

[SteveLyric2]

3 hours ago, STEVEHOLS54 said:

just saw some photos of the Poole end of season function. Was surprised to see Zach Cook in the photos as thought he had gone home to Aussie just after the BSN Final ??

Any comments on him definitely not doing Champ next season. Also with various comments on the Forum pages about the Wed BSPA AGM being postponed maybe until 30th or even later (Jan), was there any news on offer if it is still due to be this coming Wed ??

Would have thought some news on both would have come out on the Forum by now. Besides Lawson signing for 2026.

Will Cairns is in! 3 riders werent in attendance - AR, PS and RL-although Rocketman did a live video link ( with baby crying in the background), confirming his Pirates and Krakow contracts for 2026.

I haven't had a full debrief yet on what the others said.

[Doners123]

Playing devils advocate if Beau doesn’t qualify for a permit and say cooper has gone elsewhere where would these leave Poole ?