WORLD Under-21 Champion Darcy Ward has joined Poole in a record-breaking deal.The 17-year-old Aussie starlet has signed for the Elite League club on a full transfer from Premier League outfit King's Lynn, and Pirates chief Matt Ford has called it the "signing of the decade.

WORLD Under-21 Champion Darcy Ward has joined Poole in a record-breaking deal.

The 17-year-old Aussie starlet has signed for the Elite League club on a full transfer from Premier League outfit King's Lynn, and Pirates chief Matt Ford has called it the "signing of the decade."

Ford has confirmed that the deal is a new Poole record signing - so it is more than the �28,000 the Dorset club paid for Jason Crump in 2007.

Ward has been much in demand since the end of the season after a spectacular debut campaign with King's Lynn, and Poole have beaten off a host of other Elite League clubs to claim his signature.

Ford told the Bournemouth Echo: “It's hard to explain to people just how good Darcy is. In football terms, Manchester United paid �12 million for Cristiano Ronaldo and I hadn't heard of him.

“Darcy wasn't cheap either, but, like Ronaldo, I know what he will do for this club. It's a Poole transfer record, although I won't disclose the figure.

“It came out of the blue three weeks ago when Chris Holder told me Darcy wanted to come to Poole. It snowballed from there.

“Chris was the deal clincher. He and Darcy are very good friends off the track and live life at 100 miles per hour.

“I can see the Holder and Ward show leading Pirates for the next umpteen years."