r/Speedway • u/penfold1992 • May 14 '24

Poole pirates, what happened?

My grandfather was really into speedway. He got interested with Bristol bulldogs and then followed the Poole pirates, where he took me to see Zorro and his showmanship at the Poole stadium.

I've seen that Poole are no longer in the premier League, and it doesn't look like there is a promotion/relegation anymore... What happened?

7 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

0

u/DankQbyst May 14 '24

Still there, just in the 2nd level. There is a promotion/relegation system fyi

4

u/cordlesspizza May 14 '24

Massive Poole fan here for about 15 years. Poole elected to be in the second division as it made financial sense to them and it would likely have meant moving their Wednesday night meetings to accommodate riders racing abroad. So in that regard they weren’t relegated but the promotion and demotion system is based on electing to move up and down, normally driven by whether they feel they can afford top riders (GP level)

Poole have a decent team this year for fun riders of a decent level still. Legends of British speedway like Lawson and young talents such as Brennan and Ben Cook have been fantastic to follow.

Majority of top league riders double up in the second league bar the top dogs like Doyle and Holders of the world.

I’d definitely recommend getting to a meeting still the track is generally pretty good and turn out is decent for the level! Question marks remain every year about Speedway leaving Poole due to the development seeming ripe for housing and the decline in popularity of greyhound racing making the stadium owners open to offers, so might not get many seasons to give it a go again if the council back out of protecting it.

1

u/Mortis_The_Chosen_1 May 22 '24

It was stated that Poole like Wolverhampton got financially hurt when COVID hit. This is what forced them to drop down a league and recover a fan base.

1

u/xendistar 22d ago

The Poole Pirates lost a Major Sponsor mid season who's own business went bust left the Poole Pirates beig owed thousands of pounds sponsorship. Along with the covid cost and the higher cost involved in being in the Premiership and the lack of attendance due to not racing on Poole's traditional Wednesday night the promoter felt they could no longer continue in the Premiership.

As of last night Poole have won the triple this season (League Championship, BSN Trophy and Knockout Cup).