Next year 
A poor year for the Pirates in the first Elite League. Six-man teams and looking strong (at least on paper). With the heat leaders from the previous season, the return after 4 years absence of Marvyn Cox, Mark Lemon and Savalas Clouting, the team performed superbly in the early weeks and quickly booked a place in the KO Cup semi-finals with an impressive run. However the turning point came after a near whitewash of Eastbourne was follwed by allegations of tyre tampering. Suddenly the team struggled. Even Captain Craig Boyce had a minor dip in form.
The most alarming aspect was inept performances by Lars Gunnestad, Marvyn Cox and Steve Schofield, with the latter pair being dropped late in the season. Cox was given a second chance when his replacement Armando Castagna found the Elite league too hot, and rediscovered some of his old sparkle. An improvement also from Gunnestaad came too late to save the pirates from a 'points-difference' finish at the foot of the table, when it had looked possible for Poole to snatch the last qualifying place from eventual winners Coventry in the end-of-season play-offs.
Highlights of the year were the superb form of Craig Boyce throughout, and the improvement and team-contribution by Mark Lemon.
The formation of the team in 1998 remains to be seen but hopefully some lessons can be learnt from a team selection for 1997 that was lacking in world-class quality.The league winners Bradford proved their potential in the toughest league yet, and their non-appearance in 1998 will surely bolster teams in the north and leave Poole open to humiliation once more.