GARY Havelock was at Poole Pirates when the revolution began.

The Teesside-born charger had been at Wimborne Road a matter of months when club sponsor Matt Ford and businessman Mike Golding assumed control at the end of 1998.

Pirates had finished second-bottom of the Elite League months earlier and crowds were dwindling. But the arrival of Ford and Golding changed the club forever.

In came Neil Middleditch as team boss while Havelock was named captain, the 1992 world champion tasked with leading into battle a team that contained the likes of Mark Loram and Magnus Zetterstrom.

Or at least he did once he and his team-mates had put the club firmly back in the mindset of the Poole public.

“When I came in two-thirds of the way through 1998, Poole were bottom of the league and running in front of about 1,700 people,” said Havelock.

“In the week leading up to press day the following season, Matt had us going round schools with a bike, giving away free tickets, signing autographs and publicising the season.

“I remember press day itself very well because the place was mobbed. There must have been 2,000 people there, so the PR we had done had certainly seemed to work.

“Poole were a sleeping giant at that time. I guess a lot of ex-fans who had stopped going because of the previous promotion decided they would come again.

“They saw that we had a great team that year.”

Being handed the skipper role was nothing unusual for Havelock. In fact, it was something he became pretty used to.

“With the exception of my first spell at Middlesbrough when I was a teenager, I have been captain for every team I have ridden, including England,” said Coventry team boss Havelock, who returns to Wimborne Road with the Bees tonight.

“That’s a great honour for me. People say captains are only good for doing the toss at the beginning of the meeting but that’s not true.

“A good captain leads by example on the track and also helps out the other riders in the pits.

“I felt it worked very well at Poole.”

Also part of the side that season were Lee Richardson and Matej Ferjan, who gave Havelock memories he still treasures.

“Two members of that team aren’t with us any more, which is a crying shame but it was great to spend a season with those guys,” said Havelock.

“Me and Lee got really close that season. We rode for the same team in Sweden and I went to Vojens with him when he won the world under-21s.

“Looking back, it was great to be able to spend that time with him.”

On the track, Poole were flourishing. Despite injuries to key riders Zetterstrom and Scott Nicholls, they pushed Peterborough all the way to the end in the pre-play-off era.

On one nerve-jangling night, the destiny of the crown was decided in front of the Sky cameras.

Title hopefuls Peterborough thrashed Belle Vue to secure an all-important bonus point and then watched TV monitors from the pits in order to learn Poole’s result.

Pirates had battled back from 11 points down to force a last-heat decider against King’s Lynn and an incredible comeback was close to fruition.

But Leigh Adams took victory for the King’s Lynn in the final showdown to deny his former club the title.

For Peterborough, it was a dream Elite League success at the first attempt.

“We went about as close to winning the league as you can come without winning it,” said Havelock.

“I don’t remember a whole lot about the meeting although of course I remember the last race quite well.

“I think we needed a heat advantage to win the league. It was me and Mark Loram against Tony Rickardsson and Leigh Adams.

“It was a tall order and, unfortunately, we didn’t manage to pull it off which is probably one of my greatest disappointments of my time at Poole.

“But reflecting on it afterwards, to go from second-bottom to within 60 seconds of winning the league was a decent season.

“The crowd came back as well and that was probably the most important thing.

“In professional sport, you can’t do anything unless the fans come through the gate and in 1999 the club certainly put solid foundations in for what was to come in the next 10 to 15 years.”

Poole had two chances to exact revenge on the Panthers in the ensuing weeks but could not take either.

First, Middleditch’s men were beaten in the Craven Shield play-off semi-finals and then they suffered further last-heat agony in the final of the Knockout Cup.

Havelock remained at Pirates for a further three seasons, eventually joining Peterborough when his time in Dorset came to an end.