NEIL Middleditch admitted he would discuss his Pirates future with owner Matt Ford following the club’s proposed SGB Championship switch.

The legendary team manager, who has guided the Wimborne Road outfit to eight top-flight league titles, admitted travelling and weekend dates involved in the second tier could cause problems.

As well as his role with Pirates, Middleditch also has business commitments at Bailie House Warehouse in Sturminster Marshall.

He told the Speedway Star: “I’m sure there’s someone who would be honoured to manage Poole if it wasn’t to be me.

“I’m not saying ‘no’ at this moment in time until I’ve had a chance to sit down with Matt face-to-face, rather than over the telephone.

“We’ll sit down and have a chat about it and see what the options are.”

He added: “I said to my wife Suzi the other day, I just can’t really imagine it.

“I am coming up to 63 now and I have basically been involved with Poole for 63 years of my life – as a babe in arms, rider, supporter and manager. I have done the whole spectrum.

“Not to be involved in speedway would be very difficult for me.

“The only meetings I have ever gone to watch on a casual basis have been in Cardiff. Poole is my club and the club I’ll want to be involved with. If it’s not to be, we’ll just have to wait and see.”

One option that is understood to have been suggested is for Middleditch to lead Pirates in their home Championship fixtures – as well as those in the south.

Speaking about that system, he said: “Possibly that might be an option.

“But when I have been a manager, I have always wanted to be 100 per cent the manager of the team.

“Whether just doing home fixtures is the solution, I don’t know. But the Redcar, Edinburgh, Newcastle and Glasgow scenario is really not a feasible thing for me with the business and my father (fellow Poole legend Ken, who has dementia).

“It’s a case of looking at fixtures, but the business world is tough at the moment and I really need to be hands-on. It’s a lot to leave my wife Suzi to hold the ship on her own.”

Pirates are expected to have their switch to the Championship ratified at the British Speedway Promoters’ Association AGM, which is set to begin on November 13.