CO-PROMOTER Danny Ford described as a “statement of intent” Pirates’ recruitment of Danny King for the 2020 campaign.

The 33-year-old is set to spearhead the Wimborne Road outfit from the number one spot next season, as well as being named captain of Poole’s new-look SGB Championship septet.

King was part of the Ipswich side who shocked Pirates in the 2019 Premiership play-off semi-final back in September.

He scored 12 from five rides with four heat wins during the second leg at Foxhall.

But having now unveiled him in the skull and crossbones, Ford is delighted to see King in his line-up, coming in on an average of 8.45.

He told the Daily Echo: “Danny King comes with a wealth of experience, a massive reputation in the sport and he is one of the nice guys as well.

“Of course, Poole fans will be familiar with him after his antics last season in helping Ipswich defeat us in the Premiership semi-final, which was obviously a terrible night for Poole speedway.

“But it’s fantastic that we can have someone of Danny’s calibre to come in and also be leading the Pirates as our captain.”

The co-promoter added: “He will be entering in at number one in our averages.

“Now we have essentially two number ones from last year. Stevie (Worrall) was number one at Newcastle and bringing in Danny, who was number one at Sheffield, it is a statement of intent.

“We are not going in there to make up the numbers. We are going in there to win this thing.

“With those two heavy hitters and, potentially, when we do announce our third heat leader, people will see we are not messing around.

“We are going in there to win it.”

Maidstone-born King was crowned British Champion in 2016, 12 years after winning the British Under-18 Championship.

Ford added: “My Dad (owner, Matt Ford) and I have both been fans of Danny King for many years, it’s just never happened that he has been a permanent Pirate.

“He has experience being a captain and it would be silly for us not to capitalize on that experience.

“He has been one of the top performers in the Championship for quite a few years now. With his Championship club Sheffield moving up, he was looking for a new team in the Championship – it just seemed to be a great fit.”