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What else can/are they allowed to do?

During the early sixties, Nordin was definitely on a par with the Big Five. I definitely think, given his ability, that he did underachieve in the World Championship which tends to make him a forgotten rider today.

Live updates https://sportowefakty.wp.pl/zuzel/relacja/105543/puchar-europy-par-u19-w-gustrow

I can't believe the event finished up at Manchester and not scunthorpe !

Both matches tomorrow are postponed and are now on Monday Leszno v Zielona Gora start time 5pm UK time Eleven Sport 1 and Premier Sport ?? Gorzow v Wroclaw start time 7.30pm UK time N Sport and Premier Sport ??

I think you have to look at the level of opposition as well. For example I would have rated Rocky Marciano as the greatest Heavyweight boxer ever on the basis of his career record of 49 , fights, 49 wins and 43 of them by KO before retiring as undefeated World Champion, but looking at some reports the other day it seems that most boxing writers and magazines put him around the lower end of the top 10:greatest ever, on the basis his era didn’t have many really hard punchers that other eras had and some that he did fight were past their prime at the time. Not his fault of course , because you can only beat what’s in front of you but he never had to fight, for example , Ali , Frazier, or Foreman in their prime. That’s the view of the experts, I stress, so don’t jump on me those who disagree. Now , let’s convert that to speedway. Jason Crump had the misfortune to be around at the time of a truly great rider- Rickardson- at his prime. If Rickardson had not been there Crump would likely have had six World titles and we would be ranking him alongside the absolute all time cream of riders. There is no doubt in my mind that there have been very few riders in the history of the sport with Crumps talent but he just happened to be around at the time of Rickardson. The same might be said about Nordin, and arguably even Harrfeldt , but they both happened to have a relatively short time at the top, and look who they were up against, three of the true greats- Fundin , Briggs and Knutson, also to a lesser extent Ronnie Moore who was injured for part of the time. Now we come to the Big Five. Although it could be reasonably argued that in many ways the average level of competition was not as professional as it is now each of the the Big Five still had to beat four of the other true greats. Imagine a one off world Final and you find yourself facing all four of the others at some stage ! What if, Fundin had never ridden speedway , how many titles would Briggs have won ? What if Ronnie more had not spent two years car racing and six years in premature retirement before returning still as a world class rider ?What if Peter Craven had not lost his life in that terrible crash in Edinburgh? What if Knutson, five or six years younger than the others had not retired still a young man ? Any of them might well have the best record ever if not for the great what ifs. I know this will be controversial but I think Knutson , only a year or so younger than Mauger, could well have had some of Maugers titles, and perhaps we would be regarded far more highly than he is, because, quite honestly , who did Mauger face who had the year in year out conststency of the Big Five,. If the “ What ifs” teach us one thing it it is don’t compare. They were all great. Just be grateful that we had the chance to see some of these wonderful riders in a wonderful era before the sport nose dived into its present decline.

I was replying to a post , so if you think that makes me bigoted and stupid thats up to you. Simple solution is if you dont like what i post dont read it.

That's because there was very little other sport on during the league season. Now football, rugby union and other sports have returned, Polish speedway, which is a niche market within a niche sport, is bottom of the tank.

Of riders I've seen, definitely Ove for me. Even during the time of "The Big Five", which of course included Briggo, Ove was definitely the guv'nor. I would agree that Mauger and Nielsen come a shade behind Ove, and also Tony Rickardsson.

It's a wonder the Poles don't have them racing on Polish Licences then and getting Polish passports. Poland have sadly become too dominant both on and off the track in the speedway world

It was a choice - I could accept if you said he felt he had no other choice as he could be 'black balled' by Poland but it was a choice nine the less Once that choice is made he has to live with it IMO

Hope not,,,, he gave up his place,,, and that's how it should stay

I don't blame him for blowing his top. I've been to two non league FA cup ties this week, with good crowds inside the grounds. I would have felt perfectly safe at Ipswich, social distancing in a large capacity stadium.

Eddie did you see the video on this thread ?

New dates announced for the 2 E Winner div 1 matches postponed today Friday 2nd October Lodz v Bydgoszcz start time 3.30pm UK time N Sport Saturday 3rd October Ostrow v Gniezno start time 3.30pm UK time N Sport

Been held there before. Attempt to make the sport popular in Poland https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Individual_Long_Track_World_Championship

Most Wolves fans would agree with Bernie on this one.

Stock Car racing is not classed as an elite sport and can have a crowd. Madness innit??????

Same here, why not use the best track as it’s available.

It can only ever be an opinion but from the many Polish matches and GP's I've watched this year and in previous years, I can't say that I have seen any tracks there that consistently produce better racing than the NSS.

Play off semi finals in Poland tomorrow now postponed and rearranged for Monday so no chance of Bewley in the British final.

When New Cross closed and PC was tragically killed in 1963, a bad year, we started following Knutson at Wet Spam. Great rider. Perhaps Ove was early 60s master, Briggo mid 60s, Mauger late 60s.

UK top 3 but not the world..

Speedway in trouble then - I'm now in full agreement with Screm

I've been busy watching some grass grow during the summer and now autumn/winter is here I've got some paint that needs to be watched drying

Of course you are right, E I. Rocky Marciano was very lucky to become world champion in the first place. Jersey Joe Walcott outboxed him easily for 13 rounds and then just one sucker punch and he was out. As for speedway, yes I absolutely agree with everything you have said and I agree that we could now be talking about Bjorn Knutson being the greatest rider ever (even better than Tom Farndon!) if he hadn't retired so early. I had the privilege of seeing him every week at West Ham and he was definitely the classiest rider I have ever seen. He could beat anybody and frequently did. I also saw Sverre every week as well and, good as he undoubtedly was, I don't think he was ever quite in that "super" class of Fundin, Briggs, Knutson, etc. Mauger's only rival really was Ole Olsen and Olsen managed to get three World Titles during the period of their rivalry, so certainly not outclassed by Mauger.

unfortunately somewhere in the small print there will be the phrase "we reserve the right to change our minds"

Trouble is they are lying gits - this is from their Twitter account days before the season started in June " Starting this Friday we will be bringing you live coverage of the Polish Extraleague through to the end of the season on Premier Sports and Freesports"

Only saw Ove once Doris against Wembley 1970 Briggo destroyed him twice Ove did have his measure though generally.Ove was such a tough rider fair but totally committed a true gentleman off the track.Mauger, Ove, Barry, Hans, certainly would be in my all time top ten riders.

Have to say Steve i don't think any of us know the full facts of Michael and his career.Remember him losing at Poole to Shawn Moran in the helmet engine problems and not turning up at Sheffield for the return the day after.He was such a perfectionist up all night trying to rectify the engine problems he never made it.Remember Eric Boocock being really angry with him on the Thursday and Booey was a big supporter of Mike.

I would certainly agree with your choices except I would place Ivan at number one. Only saw Ove ride at one of Briggo's "Golden Greats" meetings but his record speaks for itself.

Thought Swindon would have been more appropriate?

RIP Bernie, he was Mr Cradley for a number of years, for me he was up their with the best riders Cradley have had over the years.

Second match at Belle Vue on Monday...the British final... booked my ticket

The tea served in the pits there is nowhere near the standard of that available at Foxhall

Totally agree.As i said i can now watch it Monday but may change my mind if they decide to make changes.Although the riders you mentioned would make the line-up so much stronger it would be totally unfair on the riders who have already agreed to ride in this competition.

Luckily it never rains in Manchester. Gotta say thanks to Chris Louis and all those that have helped and given their time like Bob the trackman for the efforts they have put in to stage this.

Be totally unfair to expect Joe Thompson or anyone else to drop out

I hope he and Ippo see some money out of this mess

Got to feel for Chris Louis

https://www.keepandshare.com/doc16/25046/british-champs-2020-1-pdf-811k?da=y

I think we need a reality check. If we ban all riders, riding on a Russian licence, what do you think will happen next? [hint: Gleb Chugunov]

Sydney, ,I cant comment on the Moran clash, but was in the know in regard the the Kennett challenge. It had been planned that Michael was to ride in the first Moto-cross meeting after his father had acquired the reigns of ELSWORTH Moto-Park. Michael had cancelled lucrative meeting abroad just to be free to ride for his father as a promotion. Believing, Lee was free, the Speedway board instructed him to race against Kennett that same weekend . Michael explained it was not possible as he was booked elsewhere, but they wouldn't recognise moto-cross meeting as a excuse and wouldn't take no for an answer. All arrangements were put in place believing Lee would change his mind and ride both home and away legs. However, After winning the home leg 2-0 on the Saturday night, Michael gave the Helmut to Kennett to take home with him, telling him he would not be there for the return leg, because as he had promised he would be at the Elsworth meeting . So one has to believe that Eastbourne were aware that Lee was not going to race there. They could have let the fans know, had they wanted to be up front..... This whole sorry episode could and should have been avoided. The governing Powers should have been more understanding instead of taking a high handed approach, and no doubt Lee should have made the situation more public, but he was always of the impression that he was victimised. This will be remembered as just another notch that killed some interest we supporters had At the end of the day it was the fans who missed out again ...

IMO no Russians should be in the series with what Mr. Putin was up to in Salisbury, and with what poor Mr, Alexei Navalny has gone through. Just as with athletics a stand, however feeble it may be, is called for. You shouldn't be able to go around the world poisoning people and expect to get away with it. Sorry for the Russian riders if it happened but only the Russian people can realistically have any effect on this lunatic.

Let's say £5k for arguments sake. Do you think it would be easier to persuade 500 people to pay £10 each to stream the meeting or 1,250 at £4 to stream the meeting? I'd say 1,250 at £4 is a far easier sell than 500 @ £10.

Well after just reading a post on facebook & people having a go about either joe or dan Thompson replacing Kyle bickley in the british final at Ipswich... Well i'm astounded to read the criticism of our young & up & coming talent for instance do people not realise whilst holding down full time jobs like Newcastle's Archie Freeman's dad paul drove and mechanicked for his son on Friday Edinburgh then sunday Scunthorpe then in Monday all the way down to Plymouth fir his boy to do the best he can is pretty fantastic I can say... But just remember you doubters in the future if it ain't for our young lions trying there best now we may not have speedway in 10 years or so time

Sad to see political comments on this site....especially ones spouting bile as we see above. Everyone is entitled to their opinions but please keep politics off this site....it simply makes you look bigoted and stupid.

I think a lot of the issue goes back to to the lack of a 'tribal' following now within Speedway.. Why follow with passion a team when over a season your own riders could prevent their own team qualifying for the play offs by scoring points for competitors? Imagine if Poland did the same thing? If they did, you could guarantee crowds would plummet and sponsors would leave overnight. . Betard would be delighted I am sure for Woffy and Majic to have top scored for Lublin in a win during the season and those points ultimately cost Wroclaw a play off place... The hundreds and thousands of Euros they put into both team and individual sponsorship would soon be pulled and disillusioned fans would leave the stadiums empty.. Over here, Speedway has very much become a 'just go and watch the racing' night out for many who, given the way the sport is allowed to be ran, and the lack of kudos in winning anything, don't take the team aspect too seriously Unfortunately these (and I include myself) fans will usually be ex regulars who go far more infrequentlly, as watching on TV delivers a similarly 'emotional' experience as being there.. Meaning sitting in your living room with a beer in hand offers a pretty decent night in (whoever you're watching), without paying out anything like the costs incurred of attending in person. . Get some 'tribal rivalries' back (as a team sport should have), give winning a UK Speedway title some credibility and reward, and maybe then being there will become the "only" choice to make rather than being sat in front of the TV just appreciating the racing that you're watching..

If so we will have FSP moaning that Finland should have been in it instead of them

Great Britain will represented by Jason Crump and Rory Schlein