DANNY Ford said Poole Pirates “had to act” when they learned of Tom Brennan’s availability, believing he will be a “real asset” to the club this season.

Pirates did not initially have Brennan as part of their 2024 plans, until the rider himself contacted to club to see if they could fit him in, after he was let go by Glasgow Tigers.

Brennan, 22, spent three seasons at Glasgow, some of which as captain, and helped the club win the 2023 SGB Championship title, beating Poole in the final.

The Swindon-born ace takes a role of heat leader at Pirates for 2024, alongside Richard Lawson and Ben Cook. He will combine his time at Wimborne Road with Premiership duties at Birmingham Brummies.

Discussing the addition of Brennan for the upcoming season, promoter Ford told the Daily Echo: “It feels funny saying Tom Brennan being an experienced rider, but I suppose he is.

“He’s 22 and in the team he is one of the older ones now! For someone so young, he has obviously got a wealth of experience.

“He’s won the Speedway of Nations, he’s represented his country at the highest level and he’s won Premiership titles with Belle Vue.

“He’s a real asset for us to be bringing in.

“When the opportunity came up to be able to bring him to Poole, we had to act on it.

“That’s the reason we’re doing it. It gives us a real strong top three and keeps Zach Cook at second string, which I think gives us overall probably the strongest top four in the league.

“Maybe not the strongest top two, maybe the strongest top three, but certainly the strongest top four, which I think will scare a lot of teams.

“We’re expecting big points from those four guys, home and away. If then the other three can chip in, I think we’ll be hard to beat.”

The rest of the team is made up of Tobias Thomsen, Sam Hagon and Max Perry.

Brennan’s form at Wimborne Road in the past has been patchy, but the Great Britain star did contribute a vital 9+1 in the play-off final on his last visit to the venue, including a brilliant win over Lawson.

Asked if Brennan’s past form at Poole came into his thinking when adding him to the septet, Ford insisted: “That was probably the thing that drew us to him the most in fact, how he has ridden at Poole in the past.

“You look at his averages last season, he actually averaged higher away from home than he did at home for Glasgow.

“Traditionally, Tom has never really gone too well at Poole.

“But the past two times he has come, he’s scored nine points, one of those being in the grand final obviously!

“So we know he is definitely capable of it.

“I feel that if he is riding Wimborne Road every week, he will get to grips with it very quickly.

“The fact he’s already got such strong away form, it will make him a real force, if he can get the home track advantage under him, which I don’t feel that he quite necessarily had as he should have at Glasgow.

“I think Poole probably provides a bit more of a home track advantage than somewhere like there.

“If we can get Tom dialled in, I can see him really pushing on and upping that average considerably.”

Pirates begin their season by hosting Oxford Cheetahs on Friday, March 29 in the BSN Series.