POOLE Pirates have become the first British speedway club to be awarded a new sponsor licence – paving the way for Aussie star Chris Holder to ride in 2015.

Pirates applied at the beginning of February and passed a compliance inspection last week, with the licence granted on Friday.

The first certificate of sponsorship – for Grand Prix ace Holder – was produced on the same day.

All sponsor clubs voluntarily surrendered their licences at the end of January after process and record-keeping issues were highlighted by UK Visas and Immigration.

The Poole hierarchy is confident that a more robust system within the club is now in place.

Promoter Matt Ford said: “My heartfelt thanks must be passed to Nigel Leahy (announcer) who has acted with great haste and professionalism in this matter.

“I have always made clear how having the right team off-track gives us the tools to be successful on-track and this is a clear indication of that.

“We now hope that Chris's application is seamless and we all look forward to seeing him take his place with us in March.”