It Happened This Week......1995

STEVE SCHOFIELD was honoured with a Testimonial meeting on the 30th July 1995, recognition of immense loyal service for the diminutive Londoner who first joined the Pirates in 1986.
 

Not surpisingly, given that Scoie was as much at home on the grasstracks as he was on shale, his big day featured the Grasstrack Elite beating the Speedway Supremes 51-33 and Scoie winning the Ambassador Cup.

The well attended meeting, which saw Jason Crump cruise to a 15-point maximum,  provided many fans their chance to see the laid-down engines for the first time.
Former Poole promoter Mervyn Stewkesbury once said about the 'Mitcham Midget', "world champions in this sport are determined by the points they score in certain meetings, for my money Steve's loyalty, professionalism and good character make him a TRUE Champion. I have a soft spot in my heart for him."

That loyalty saw Scoie ride 320 meetings for the Pirates in 10 seasons that spanned 12 years, having ridden the 1989 and 1990 seasons for Hackney. His career began in 1980 with Weymouth after being spotted at the Eastbourne and Hackney training schools.
He currently sits in 4th position in the list of all-time Pirates point scorers with 3,349.5 to his name and has also been inducted into the Pirates Hall of Fame.
Scoie's racing career came to a cruel end that had near-fatal results when he crashed in a grasstrack meeting at Collier Street in 1999.
 

picture Dave Fairbrother