MATT Ford believes “envy” on the part of rival Elite League promoters has been a catalyst to a Speedway Control Bureau investigation into alleged average manipulation by Pirates.

Poole Castle Cover’s chief revealed SCB official Graham Reeve was at Wimborne Road today in his programme notes for tonight’s meeting against Eastbourne.

The SCB have been asked by the British Speedway Promoters’ Association to look into allegations that the Dorset club cheated the paying public in meetings at Swindon and Peterborough last month, claims Ford, team manager Neil Middleditch and Pirates’ riders vigorously deny.

Ford wrote in the programme: “Graham is here to talk with the Poole riders about the wild allegations being chucked at the club from several rival Elite League clubs that we have been deliberately losing races to reduce our averages and strengthen the team.

“Mr Reeve can be assured of our full co-operation in any matter pertaining to this.

“The riders will be delighted to answer any questions Graham may have.

“My only hope is that tonight proves a cracking meeting against Eastbourne, so that Graham can have some sort of reason for taking time out of his schedule to be here this evening.”

Ford, responding to requests from Lakeside’s promotion, Coventry’s Allen Trump and Peterborough’s Mick Bratley for the SCB to hold an inquiry, into Poole’s performances, added: “I firmly believe this entire charade by rival promotions is a smokescreen on the part of one management and pure envy on behalf of the others who should be ashamed of themselves.

“I find it incredibly strange that the two meetings in particular where we are being “cited” are at Swindon and Peterborough.

“Let me remind you we scored 39 points at Swindon on May 7, which is nowhere near the sort of score I want any Poole team to score away from home.

“But it was exactly the same points Coventry scored at Blunsdon this season and three more than Lakeside and top of the table Wolves.

“So if that is the case…is every Elite League team under-performing?

“We are getting accused of supposed skull-duggery in heat 14 at Peterborough after Daniel Davidsson was put off 15 metres for touching the tapes.

“But why would we then score a 4-2 heat advantage in the last heat from Chris Holder and Bjarne Pedersen if we were making concerted efforts to “under-perform”.

“There is absolutely no pattern to any of these scandalous accusations and they are, in my opinion, born purely out of total envy for everything we have achieved here in 10 years.

“What is remarkable about this whole episode is that one of the clubs who started this bullying game (Coventry) against Poole speedway are currently in the spotlight for having a side who contravened rules and ignored the association’s management committee in a meeting recently.

“And they’ve the gall to write that we’ve got questions to answer about a meeting at Swindon when they weren’t even there!

“As top newspaper columnist Richard Littlejohn would say…you couldn’t make it up.

“It’s been a difficult season for us. We’ve only won three meetings in 16 and we’re not prepared to sit around at the bottom of the table and be the whipping boys for every other Elite League side without trying to do something about it.

“We are delighted to welcome Hans Andersen on board this evening, but let me make it abundantly clear it’s no different to Scott Nicholls and Matej Zagar rejoining the Elite League in the last fortnight.

“I have had many friends privately suggest that I should walk away from speedway after this sorry episode.

“But I feel quite the opposite. By doing that it would be suggesting I have something to answer on behalf of this club.

“Let me assure these bullies and gangs prodding and poking Poole speedway, they will have to go a long way for me to quit. They will not win.

“I have written many times about my love of this place. I am a proud Poole boy and to drive around recently and see newspaper back page headlines of “Ford in cheat sensation” is extremely damaging against this business and my name.

“But, I refer to the answer I gave earlier. Official Mr Reeve will be given my full co-operation and we’ll see where the matter takes us after tonight.”