It was hard work trying to defend that title in 1970 as the Pirates slipped to 5th place and as they had done in each of the preceding seasons stumbled at the 3rd round stage of the Knockout Cup. Mudge, Smith, Fossengen and debut boy Mike Cake were all ever-present the first three all returning solid 7 point plus averages, along with Gordon Guasco. Two Norwegians headed the way in 1971 when Reidar Eide teamed up with Fossengen at Wimborne Road. Swedish rider Bo Wirebrand, later to become team manager of his country and the colourful and temperamental John Langfield both joined the Poole ranks but the Pirates had to settle for an 11th place finish and early cup elimination. A climb to 7th in 1972 was assisted by Swedish rider Christer Lofqvist who came South when the doors closed at West Ham. He and Smith finished with 8 plus averages and a year later the Swede was to further improve on that figure by taking it over the 9 point margin despite the Pirates slump to 14th.

1974-1976

A major change in personnel in 1974 saw Northerner Eric Broadbelt, Malcolm Ballard, Richard May, Colin Gooddy, Phil Herne and Oyvind Berg all make the Pirate debuts along with the son of one-time Poole hero Ken Middleditch. Neil rode three league matches that year as the Pirates couldn't pull away from 14th but was to become as popular a rider as his father had over two decades previously. Poole reached the cup semi-finals that year but were comfortably eliminated by eventual cup winners Sheffield. The Pirates looked for improvements in 1975 and took the bold bid of signing Malcolm Simmons from King's Lynn. "Super Simmo" as he was to be affectionately known was on the verge of becoming one of the most consistent England individuals and was to play a major role in the National sides fortunes. In his first season for Poole he returned 15 Full and one paid maximum and was to become the first Poole rider to secure a 10 point average since the advent of the British League (notwithstanding Gote Nordin's one unbeaten performance in the first meeting of 1968 before quitting these shores to return to Sweden to pursue his business interests). Simmo's influence did not improve things for the Pirates, they slipped a position to 15th in the 18-strong league. 1976 was a brilliant season for Simmons individually. He became British champion, World pairs champion along with Peter Collins, and stood proudly on the rostrum of the World Individual Championships in Katowice, Poland having finished one solitary point by his England team-mate, the newly crowned World Champion, Peter Collins. Again he returned a 10+ average and the team rose to 10th place in the league.

1977-1979

There they stayed in 1977 a year which was tragically overshadowed by the April death of Kevin Holden in a track crash at Wimborne Road and there was no change in league position in 1978. Also Simmons' consistently broke the 10 point barrier both seasons. So it was something of a failure when, in 1979 he could only record an average of 9.03. American Ron Preston made an impressive debut but the Pirates had to settle for 12th place, and mourn the death of Christer Sjosten who was killed just before Christmas whilst racing in Australia.

The eighties were to change things slightly. 9th place in both 1980 and 1981 before the lowest ebb in the Poole history was about to dawn. Just three wins and three draws were all the Pirates were able to earn in 1982 and that left them clinching the wooden spoon. A somewhat better performance the following year when 1980 World Champion Michael Lee linked up with the Pirates, saw them elevate to 13th. That season (1983) they discovered future World Champion Sam Ermolenko and it was these two riders that led the way in 1984 for the Pirates, in what was to be the Dorset club's final year in the British league, although no league placing improvement came about.

1985-1987

Financial problems hit the Pirates hard that year and were forced into liquidation, but for the townsfolk of Poole a saviour was on the horizon in the guise of Betterment (Leisure) - under the direction of Mervyn Stewkesbury and Peter Ansell. They uprooted from Weymouth to take over the licence at Wimborne Road and it proved to be an inspired move for that promotional team. Runners-up to Ellesmere Port by a solitary point in the National League in their first season at Wimborne Road gave them a taste for success. The title was conceded the following season (1986) to Eastbourne and by their standards 1987 was a bitter failure with the Pirates faltering into 8th place. An influx of promising young Australian riders were preparing to ply their trade on these shores and Poole's team manager was the influential Australian team manager Neil Street who had been keeping a close eye on his country's proteges. This was to be the recipe for future success.

1988-1989

In 1988 a young rookie Craig Boyce was introduced to the Poole fans, as too were Tony Langdon and his brother Steve. Gary Allan, a New Zealander was also captured and Poole rapidly rose to runners-up spot again in 1988. But valuable experience was gained that year and with the introduction of inspirational club captain Alun Rossiter in 1989 Poole swept all aside and took the 1989 National League title.

Speedway fever was flourishing in the town and one year later, the first of the '90's Poole made it their year winning a league and cup double. Behind the scenes Mervyn Stewkesbury had been working on a blueprint for the future of British speedway. His fellow promoters liked his proposals so much that they precipitated the introduction of his ideas a year ahead of his original target. This saw the amalgamation of the two bodies that ran league racing in Britain and Poole were invited to join the First Division. This they did and signed Marvyn Cox from Oxford - the club Craig Boyce had joined not realising that Poole would be part and parcel of the top flight when he asked to be released from his National League contract. Steve Schofield was re-called from a loan arrangement that had saw him ride for Hackney and it was these two that that did the lions share of the scoring in 1991. Lacking a real third heat leader Poole struggled in the league, finishing 10th of 13th, lost out to Reading in a re-run Premiership and were comfortably beaten by Bradford in the final of the BSPA Knockout cup.

1992-1996

1992 saw Boyce re-establish his links with the club and this elevated the Pirates to 3rd in the table whilst in 1993 a young Norwegian by the name of Lars Gunnestad entered the Poole scene and became an instant hit. League-wise Poole could only finish 10th from 11 clubs. Things were vastly different the following year (1994) when young Australian Jason Crump was signed. Along with Boyce and Gunnestad Poole had a frightfully strong heat leader trio and with Steve Schofield weighing in with a valuable contribution they were able to record a league and National Fours double.Since then the Stewkesbury success story began to dry up. Injuries had an adverse effect on the team's performance and in 1995, a season that Boyce spent away from Wimborne Road, on loan to Swindon, the Pirates had to settle for a midway league finish whilst the following year (1996) a strong rally towards the end of the campaign lifted them to overall 14th place.

1997

In the weeks preceding the commencement of the Pirates 50th season there was a passionate air of optimism emanating from Wimborne Road. The envy of many of their peers, it seemed as though Messrs Stewkesbury and Ansell had pulled together a team capable of sweeping all and sundry aside. Boyce, Gunnestad were joined by the ever popular Marvyn Cox providing a statistically impressive heat leader trio. Steve Schofield something of a veteran also earned his contract and after a number of years of trying Mark Lemon was given his break with the Dorset club. Completing the side was British Under 21 Champion Savalas Clouting
All began well for the Pirates with several impressive performances in the Speedway Star KO Cup, a competition that they eventually finished runners-up in. But, as far as the Elite league was concerned, they inexplicably could not drum up the sort of performances that the whole league initially feared and despite twice beating eventual champions Bradford away from home the Pirates languished at the base of the table. Even a change of personnel with a temporary dropping of Cox in favour of Armando Castagna and the parting of the ways with Steve Schofield in July (after he became the all time top scoring Pirate - a record weeks later surpassed by skipper Boyce) to be replaced by Ben Howe, could not significantly arrest the decline and by the end of the season, the 13th of Stewkesbury and Ansell's promotion, the world famous Poole Pirates collected the Elite League Wooden Spoon.

1998

For much of 1998 it looked as though that Wooden Spoon would adorn the office walls for another winter as the Pirates endured another miserable season. A record number of rain-offs, a serious injury to Marvyn Cox, and a third successive season of a slump in form for Gunnestad, and a record home thrashing by champions-elect Ipswich (27:63) did little to offer the Poole faithful belief that they could lift themselves out of the basement. With skipper Craig Boyce also out-of-sorts for much of the campaign it was not until Sussex neighbours Eastbourne did the Dorset club a favour by releasing the services of Gary Havelock, did the Poole season turn around. Havelock, his career in jeopardy after a disappointing run with the Eagles added an extra dimension both on and off track and had his spell with the Pirates been longer would surely have won the Rider of The Year Award. That particular accolade went, deservedly, to Magnus Zetterstrom who competed enthusiastically and demonstrated his delight to the home crowd when his efforts paid off. "Zorro" stamped his inimitable "Dirty Dancing" style on the season. Poole lost 7 teams at home in league combat, drew another but managed three wins from 16 away from Wimborne Road.

1999

During the latter months of the 1998 season Stewkesbury's enthusiasm for the sport waned and he required no second offer from club sponsor MATT FORD to sell the promoting rights. Ford needed additional financial backing and he was successful in tempting long time Poole fan and local businessman MICHAEL GOLDING into a joint partnership. Their first task was to tie up the deal with Reading to bring Lee Richardson back to the club. It was a series of drawn out negotiations which almost failed, but Poole stood firm and eventually were able to include the best young Englishman in their ranks.Richardson repaid their faith by winning the World U21 championship, a terrific achievement considering that two months earlier his confidence was at such a low ebb due to mounting mechanical problems that the youngster was seriously contemplating retirement! In a change from previous years there was a lack of Australian presence at the Dorset club, Ford and Golding even dispensed with the services of long-term team manager, veteran Neil Street, in favour of a famous Poole name of the past,Neil Middleditch. Out too went Boyce - loaned to Oxford, while only Magnus Zetterstrom was the only rider who began the 1998 campaign to survive the club clear out. Havelock was installed as club captain and he was joined at Wimborne Road by former Bradford team-mate Mark Loram, who had struggled at Wolverhampton the previous year. It was to be a change of environment that would shoot Loram well up the World rankings as he enjoyed the best ever season of his career, being crowned British Champion, winning the Overseas title and sensationally becoming the first ever wild card to win a Grand Prix event when he won the Swedish round.
It proved a highly successful first year venture for the two 'rookies'. Their choice of number 7, Martin Willis, suffered as the inbalance of fixtures allowed other clubs to strengthen at the bottom, and the pressure took it's toll on Willis who failed to resume racing after a wrist injury. Indeed the 1999 season was ruined only by crucial injuries to Scott Nicholls, signed on loan from Ipswich, who earlier in the year had won the British U21 Championship. Scott's injury coincided with the loss of showman Magnus 'Zorro' Zetterström with a broken left leg, witnessed by many on Sky Television during the league encounter at Peterborough.
Poole's other worst moment was captured on the SKY TV cameras, the night they lost the league title in a thrilling battle which went right to the last heat. From the pits at Peterborough the Panthers watched the crucial last race from the King's Lynn v Poole fixture. Peterborough had just thrashed Belle Vue to secure the all important bonus point, Poole had recovered from an 11 point deficit against the Knights to force a last heat decider. Agonisingly for Poole fans it was a former Pirate that sealed the destiny of the league title, as Leigh Adams took the victory that sent the Peterborough club into raptures having won the Elite league title at their first attempt. Chance for revenge came a few short weeks later but once again Poole were forced to give second best to the Panthers, both in the semi-finals of the Craven Shield play offs and then in another last heat decider for the Speedway Star KO Cup.
It may have been a team-trophyless season for the Pirates but the crowds responded warmly to the new promotion who certainly worked tirelessly setting the foundations to take the Poole club into the 21st century……….

But during the winter of 2000/2001 there was near anarchy amongst the Poole faithful when they heard the talk of speedway nomad Mark Loram would be on his travels again. No deal could be organised between the Poole promotion and Loram's management team and those rumours soon became fact. To soften the blow Golding and Ford acted in the best possible way, they agreed terms with a certain three times world champion Tony Rickardsson, reputedly the highest achieved rider still racing competitively. It wasn't long before the Swede was being won over by the passionate Pirate supporters, along too with a couple of relatively unknown foreigners, Dane Hans N Andersen and Pole Krzysztof Cegielski. Towards the last few weeks of the 2000 campaign Golding and Ford had brought across the quietly spoken Grzegorz Walasek, who just missed out on a qualifying spot for the GP series, and he had shown sufficient promise to earn a 2001 team place. Havelock was retained and announcing Lars Gunnestad as another retainee it was confirmed that the Norwegian would receive a Testimonial campaign. So, with Watson recovered the team was complete. Most pundits predicted another lower league echelon finish, in truth the promotion were also cautious, describing the side as 'one with potential'. That potential rapidly shone through. Cegielski was a revelation and was soon making a mockery of his 4.50 assessed average, finishing the year as a heat leader. Andersen too was making excellent progress until his season was heavily interrupted with a broken thigh, the result of a Wimborne Road crash with that 'golden boy' Loram. To cover for the Dane's absence Poole were given permission to recall Zetterstrom. Walasek was given an unexpected chance to show his ability on the world stage, as he deputised for three different riders during the course of the GP. His call-up provided a watershed in an upturn in form and by the end of the season he was the pride and joy of the Poole public, scooping the Away Rider of the Year.
It seemed that Ford and Golding had something of a midas touch as far as world champions were concerned, for having had Richardson win the U21 title in '99 and Loram the senior crown in 2000, the run continued with Rickardsson hugely impressively winning his fourth world title, but team glory looked to be slipping them by.Inspite of the pre-season predictions Poole found themselves well clear of the league basement region, indeed in contrast they were pressing hard for the title! Whilst the history books will show that Oxford were the deserved champions, it could have been a different story had the Ipswich v Oxford fixtures been ridden in strict chronological order instead of being switched for 'the purposes of television"! There was some consolation to follow though, for on the very final day of their third season in control the keys to the trophy cabinet had to be found. In a night of high drama the Pirates overhauled a 10 point deficit at the hands of Peterborough to win the Craven Shield as Neil Middleditch realised a 44 year dream of actually winning something with Poole and gave the Poole fans something to soften the blow with for the winter as they come to terms with the likelihood of having to have a complete rebuild again for 2002 as the form of Walasek and Cegielski didn't go unnoticed by the GP organisers who offered both of them wild card entries to the rapidly expanding series, which could have a major affect on team building rules in Britain.

Indeed, that is precisely what happened as Ford and Golding's original team plans were consigned to the wastepaper bin once it was decreed that there would be a strict limit to the number of GP riders a team could employ. Poole were able to retain two, provided only one had an average in excess of 8 points which meant that either Cegielski or the world champion Rickardsson had to be released. Not surprisingly it was the Pole who was jettisoned and he was all set to join Eastbourne before the Eagles swooped for Mark Loram just days before announcing a change in their promotion set-up with Terry Russell, the BSPA president, buying in to the concern.
The non-GP status of Gary Havelock coupled with his attractive average meant he was a greatly sought-after rider but Poole opted to retain him and the skipper became the only Englishman in the side as Hans N Andersen was to be joined by fellow Dane Bjarne Pedersen who Poole had secured on loan from Premier league side Newcastle. The side was completed with three Polish riders, the unknown Mariusz Staszewski, young Tomasz Chrzanowski who had caught the eye during a late visit to Wimborne Road at the end of 2001 and the recall of GP wild card Grzegorz Walasek, a rider rapidly warming to the hearts of many of the Poole faithful.
Ford and Golding both admitted that the side was 'a developing one' and warned against Poole fans being too optimistic for honours, although with the newly introduced play-off system the hopes of making the top five were not beyond consideration. For much of the campaign the Pirates, heavily reliant on the scoring prowess of Rickardsson were pushing hard for the top three spots, but the season wasn't without it's problems. Andersen and Pedersen missed matches as they invoked a DMU ruling that allowed them to sit out meetings 48 hours prior to world championship qualifying rounds. Both the Danes worked their way into the final qualifier, Pedersen securing one of the six qualifying places, Andersen narrowly missing out
After Walasek sustained his second injury of the year - both sustained when riding against Wolverhampton - the Poole management opted to make wholesale changes. Out went Chrzanowski who had been struggling mentally as legal problems in his native Poland provided a distraction he could have done without. Staszewski on the other hand was handicapped through lack of top competitive machinery, for the ability was clearly there. Replacing them were Lars Gunnestad, making a surprise return and the very low-averaged Henrik Gustafsson, and the introduction of Andre Compton and Paul Clews as 'doubling-up' Premier league riders. Clews only made one appearance, Compton being favoured and whilst the points didn't flow too heavily, his commitment could never be questioned. Swede Gustaffson was to experience a premature end to his season joining skipper Gary Havelock on the injured list
Rickardsson, despite being affected by a debilitating virus throughout the season took just nine of the 10 Grand Prix rounds to claim his fifth world title, equalling the legendary Ove Fundin, and that meant his end of season trip to Australia for the final event could be approached in a more relax manner. By the time he left for Sydney the Pirates dream of winning the league through the play-offs had been shattered. A home defeat in the league proper by Coventry left the Dorset club having to race their play-off round at Coventry. Rickardsson played his part in that play-off being unbeaten in three rides, a remarkable achievement considering he was suffering from that virus throughout the meeting. Forced to withdraw from the match the Pirates literally ran out of scoring prowess and were soundly beaten.
Some consolation was to follow when the Pirates succesfully defended the Craven Shield title at the expense of Coventry and Ipswich which added some symmetry to the season compared with 2001 - the World Champion and Craven Shield being their successes.

2003 will undoubtedly be remembered as the best ever season for the Pirates. The fifth season of the Ford/Golding partnership and they were rewarded for all their hard efforts since taking control of the club as Poole swept the board of all team honours. They surprised many during the break between the 2002 and 2003 seasons by bringing Leigh Adams back to where it all began for the Australian 14 years earlier. Adams was joined by Lukas Dryml, both of whom had ridden at Oxford the previous year and with Tony Rickardsson retained the Pirates had an envious top three. Add to that Bjarne Pedersen and David Ruud both of whom were expected to improve on their previous performances, togehter with one of those Polish discoveries, in the guise of Krzsystof Kasprzak, the Pirates were strongly fancied by pundits across the country.
It was something of an early wake up call when the TV cameras captured Poole losing at home to Coventry in the early weeks, but revenge, sweet revenge, was to follow at the other end of the season.
Adams, Dryml, Pedersen and defending world champion Tony Rickardsson all featured prominently on the Grand Prix stage although it was during the qualifying rounds that saw Lukas Dryml face an early end to the season. He had only just recovered from a life-threatening horrendous spill during the Slovenian Grand Prix when he was embroiled in a fast and furious first turn in the Grand Prix qualifying final at Wimborne Road, clashing with Peter Karlsson and leaving Poole with a void to fill.
Adams and Rickardsson were in strong contention for the world title and Pedersen ensured his place in the 2004 series by qualifying from that Poole final.
A new competition, the British league cup was introduced and Poole, with a different look team to that contesting the senior title, remained firmly on the glory trail. Ford and Golding had introduced another sensation to their number by offering Antonio Lindback, a Brazilian, a place in the BLC team. He made his club debut with a remarkable paid 21 point maximum and indeed the Pirates were unbeaten in that competition until they put in a lack-lustre performance at Exeter. They still managed to qualify for the final stages thanks in the main to an impressive 19 point haul from Magnus Zetterstrom at Wolverhampton, a performance that the majority of Poole fans missed because unprecedently that fixture was staged on the same night as the Elite league side were performing at home against Oxford, with KO Cup qualification on the agenda. That particular fixture had taken since Good Friday to arrange but it was worth waiting for as the Pirates gave themselves a solid enough first leg lead that was to eventually see them through to the final where they would meet Coventry. A week after that cup semi-final clash with the Silver Machine, the two sides met again in the Play-off tournament and again the Pirates triumphed, dishing up another confrontation with Coventry, for the ultimate pot - the Elite League championship.
Poole brought back a slender one point lead from the first leg of the Elite league play-off and then made easy work of the Bees in the second leg to become league champions for the first time since 1994. Confidence of the double remained high but the Bees were a different proposition when the two sides met on 22nd October in the first leg of the KO Cup final. That advantage was soon wiped out on a wet, dreary night at Coventry on 25th October and the Midland side looked certain to take retaliation on the Pirates as they rapidly rode into a double point aggregate advantage. Then, suddenly, the Pirates began to fight back and produced arguably the greatest ever comeback in a speedway fixture by countering a 14 point deficit to lose by just two points on the night and thus claim the double by a 90-88 final score.
That left just the unique treble to complete and after trailing Eastbourne by 6 points in the first leg of the BLC final, Pedersen and Zetterstrom became true club heroes by double figures scores a-piece (Pedersen unbeaten from 5 and Zetterstrom unbeaten until the final race of the night.
A remarkable season which saw the hinges on the trophy cabinet well oiled, as it was opened so often, but what an act to follow.......

Follow it they did though despite the loss of world number four Leigh Adams who was called back by Swindon on their return to top flight speedway. In his place the Pirates called upon another rider Mildura, Jason Lyons, who was sensationally overlooked by his parent club Belle Vue. With Adams it left Poole fans somewhat concerned as to whether they would have that solid top end that he and Rickardsson had provided. Rickardsson began the season in sensational form but then dropped a bombshell from which many clubs would have never recovered. The world's greatest current rider had decided to quit British speedway with the Pirates having ridden 9 Elite league matches, seven of which they had won and Rickardsson had contributed a massive 119 points and apart from one retirement had recorded heat scores of a minimum of a paid second place! So with the world number 2 and world number 4 now no longer part of the Poole set-up, Lyons struggling to find the form that he had consistently produced for the Aces the Pirates' opponents began to believe that the Poole success bubble would rapidly burst.
Ryan Sullivan was given the unenviable task of filling the "Master's" boots making his Poole colours return on May 5th against Oxford that netted more league points for the Pirates. In the period through to mid-June the Pirates gained another seven league wins, drew one and lost four. A record to be proud of but still Lyons was not delivering and he was to ride his last match for the Pirates on 14th June at Wolverhampton - a match that the Pirates sensationally won with the Australian being paid for 6 points in one of his better returns (average wise).
It was too late though for him to avoid the axe, for Ford and Golding had lined up Slovenian Matej Ferjan and Krzysztof Kasprzak as replacements for Lyons and the injured Dave Watt. Ferjan was owned by Belle Vue but like Sullivan was to embark on a second stint as a Pirates and Kasprzak, who had been loaned to Swindon at the start of the season was coming back from an injury that had cost him his place as a Robin.
It was a mid-season gamble that reaped great rewards as the Pirates demonstrated a well-balanced side with solid scores from Bjarne Pedersen (who was to go on to win the Elite League Riders Championship), Antonio Lindback and the three new recruits, with skipper Magnus Zetterstrom having his moments, primarily at Wimborne Road.
The Pirates were assured of a place in the end-of-season play offs midway through the campaign and an early KO Cup elimination of Peterborough still had designs on yet another league and cup double.
The Pirates low spots were two crushing league defeats at Oxford (August 27th) and Belle Vue (15th September) with the Dorset side failing to break the 30 point score on both occasions, as they completed their league campaign. But a most definite high spot was a play-off away win at Wolverhampton that left the Pirates with one hand firmly on the league trophy that was proudly displayed in their trophy cabinet. The failure of Coventry and Belle Vue to complete their outstanding cup tie gave the Pirates a quarter final walk-over and a tough looking semi-final tie against Swindon. But, coming just 48 hours after that first leg play off win against Wolves the Pirates kept the points coming in the first leg to give themselves a massive 31 point lead to protect in the second leg. That was to be the following night and they booked their place in the KO Cup final despite losing by 13 points in Wiltshire.
Wolverhampton failed to lift themselves after that play-off defeat on their home shale and the Pirates completed back-to-back league titles with a crushing 63-30 home win on a night of great celebration, and only Ipswich stood between them and the double. Rain caused the postponement of the home leg on 20th October and 24 hours later the Pirates journeyed to Suffolk to give a great account of themselves, going down by just 6 points. The re-arranged home leg was set for the very last day of the season. The weather stayed fine and the Pirates, inspired by a superb paid maximum performance from Lindback and an 11 point haul from Sullivan proved too much for the Witches who only had former Pirates Hans Andersen and Scott Nicholls in a point scoring mood.
The Pirates had done it, the first club for 30 years to successfully defend the league and cup titles. Promoter Mike Golding finishing the season with the words "we are going for the treble double in 2005....."

Through until July it looked as though the Pirates would prove Golding right but the prophecy failed to materialise when a down turn in results from mid-August left the Pirates sitting out the play-offs, two points short of fourth-placed Eastbourne's 49 points. Few would have thought that when Poole lost by six points at Ipswich on August 11th that this was to spell the start of the club equalling their worst ever string of results - a sequence of 8 matches without a win meaning that the Pirates home win on August 10th against Belle Vue (who were to finish the league campaign on top but denied the championship by Coventry in the play-off final) was the last points, excluding aggregate bonus points, that the Pirates were to gain. Ironically, it was against the Witches that the Pirates finally had to resign themselves to an early finish, for the Suffolk side came to Wimborne Road on 7th September and stole the show with a dramatic 44-46 victory, inflicting the third successive home defeat on the Dorset club.
Earlier in the campaign they had been eliminated from the KO Cup by rivals Swindon and it therefore seemed a very empty season for the Pirates. On reflection it was the lack of consistent scoring ability from the reserve berth that became the Pirates downfall and whilst Ford and Golding attempted to make changes their options were largely limited. They began the season with Ray Morton returning to top flight speedway but the Ripper had to admit that it was a step to far and he stood down towards the end of April after just 11 league appearances. Tobias Johansson was given a chance, lasted two more league matches than Morton but achieved much less than his predecessor. Tomas Suchanek was called into the breach but really needed more experience behind him. Both Edward Kennett and Ricky Ashworth shared the doubling up role, whilst late in the season they brought Robert Kosciecha over from Poland and he became a big hit with the Poole fans, not least because he scored paid 15 from 7 at Swindon. But it was just not the reserves that struggled, Matej Ferjan was inconsistent away from Wimborne Road, whilst Ryan Sullivan was struck by a blood disorder. On the plus side, Bjarne Pedersen had another totally reliable season, Krzysztof Kasprzak was crowned World U21 Champion in the most atrocious of Austrian conditions and Antonio Lindback once again produced some exhilirating speedway. But by October the Poole promotion's stock-take of the trophy room resulted in just the one piece of silverware still left there, the non-contested British League Cup, for the Craven Shield slipped them by as they struggled to put out a side of their own in the final at Oxford.

Matters improved little for the Pirates in 2006, in fact, as league positions were concerned they suffered their lowest finish under the control of the Ford/Golding era. But, although the record books will show the Pirates in 7th place and the reserve problem still persisted the Pirates can reflect on a 'what might have been' campaign. They reached the semi-finals of the Knockout Cup, only for their place in the final to be thwarted by the weather home and abroad. The two sides raced the first leg at Belle Vue on September 11th with the Aces claiming a 12 point advantage but significantly it was that meeting which saw Antonio Lindback crash out with a knee injury and that was to have major implications for the Pirates. For whilst Lindback attempted to ride on the Thursday of the same week (against Reading in a league match), on a change of night for the RIAS Pirates he was forced to withdraw after just three rides and wasn't to be seen in a Pirate race bib again that season. He had already missed a vital 7 match sequence in August due to serious sinus problems and that he meant he had ridden less than three quarters of all matches.
Wishing to avoid a cup clash with the Swedish League play-offs both sides agreed to hold the second leg of the cup-tie on another 'off-night', and for the second time in a month the RIAS Pirates were to stage a Thursday home fixture. However, the second leg of the Swedish play-off had fallen foul to the weather and the reserved date clashed with the cup tie. Both sides were without their respective number one's and captains, Bjarne Pedersen absent for the home side and newly crowned World Champion Jason Crump for the Aces, but the meeting went ahead. The Pirates rapidly began to claw back those 12 points and were just three points short of their target by heat 12. But the track conditions were worsening and the result declared at that stage, with the Aces progressing to the final. It was the second time of the season that the Aces had gained a debatable advantage over the Poole club - in the Best Pairs at Swindon Bjarne Pedersen and Antonio Lindback were unbeaten in their group but level on points with Belle Vue, but it was the Aces duo who were awarded the right in the final under the bizarre ruling that Jason Crump had individually won more races even though the points system rewarded team riding.
For several weeks of the season the RIAS Pirates had to cover for the absence of Krzysztof Kasprzak who broke his collar-bone three times in separate incidents and missed a lengthy period between mid-May and July. During Kasprzak's absence the management also gave Daniel Davidsson his marching orders replacing him at reserve with Shaun Tacey, a gamble that failed to pay off. The decision however did seem to spur Daniel's brother Jonas into a rich vein of form as he became the mainstay of the Pirates reserve berth. Tacey's spell was limited and the Poole management wanted to bring in Australian Robert Ksiesak but although he rode one meeting for the RIAS Pirates it was adjudged that he was not eligible under the doubling-up rule, providing an opportunity for Matthew Wethers and Tommy Allen to prove themselves, the former putting in some highly committed performances and not always rewarded fully for his effort.
Kasprzak's return to the saddle was welcome but no sooner was he back than Lindback suffered his sinus problems. Crucially that happened at the busiest time of the season for the RIAS Pirates and their problems were heightened when Walasek had a ban imposed on him for having missed a meeting due to a non-speedway illness. It was a frustrating period and one that saw both Pedersen and 'veteran' Craig Boyce carry the burden impeccably. A win against Ipswich on the final day of August ensured that the RIAS Pirates wouldn't replicate their record-equalling run without a win of 2005, but the damage had been done to the Pirates title hopes although they made no similar mistakes in the Craven Shield, calling on Wolverhampton's Fredrik Lindgren as a three-match guest to cover the Final that saw the Pirates win at Coventry, and finish second at both Eastbourne and Poole, as each club won a round on an away track. But Eastbourne's win at Wimborne Road ensured the Pirates claimed the highest aggregate score and the RIAS Pirates were able to proudly parade the Craven Shield around Wimborne Road, although many of them were aware that their team places for 2007 was very much under threat as the Poole management made early reference to sweeping changes for the forthcoming season.