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Andrzej Pogorzelski

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News breaking on social media this afternoon about the passing of Polish international and World Finalist, Andrzej Pogorzelski

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51 minutes ago, frigbo said:

News breaking on social media this afternoon about the passing of Polish international and World Finalist, Andrzej Pogorzelski

Sad news. Very underrated rider, and I first saw him at Wembley in 1969. So soon after we lost Jerzy Szczakiel too...

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Sad news indeed. He was recently featured in the "Classic Speedway" magazine.

RIP

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Loved watching Pogo.

I was only 10 when Rybnik turned up at Poole in 1965, three riders shone like a beacon.

Woryna scored a paid max,behind Pogo, Wyglenda only lost his paid max because of a failing motor.

Pogo was majestic scoring a full 12pt max in their 52-26 win over the Pirates. Followed them all for the rest of their careers.

RIP Pogo.

Edited by BobC
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It was the good times when Polish teams came touring Britain, Pogo was one of them that excited the crowds. Sad loss.

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Sad news can still remember his performance for Poland v Scotland Select at Old Meadowbank had 5 wins and a Fall .Scotland select was a good team with Persson, Eide and Monk in it.Great rider in his era.He also had scored 15 pts the year before When Poland  scored 79 pts in pouring rain(torrential) would never have went ahead these days.

RIP.

 

 

Edited by Fromafar
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Very sad news. I also remember the Rybnik visit to Poole in 1965. Relatively unknown riders making a sensational impact on a very large crowd. Great days. 
 

RIP Pogo. 

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I rember pogo very well along with woryna and wyglenda- great and exciting riders. RIP Pogo. BTW  are the latter two still with us- I hope so1

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2 hours ago, BOBBATH said:

I rember pogo very well along with woryna and wyglenda- great and exciting riders. RIP Pogo. BTW  are the latter two still with us- I hope so1

Sadly not, Bob. Toni passed away in December 2001, at the young age of 60.

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Hi Steve,guess Wyglenda still with us? The sixties Poles were great but I never thought Poland would become the centre of the Speedway world with the top League in the world. Can someone explain to me how that happened and why they replaced England as the top League-the crowds. they get seem to be like England in the forties

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3 hours ago, BOBBATH said:

Hi Steve,guess Wyglenda still with us? The sixties Poles were great but I never thought Poland would become the centre of the Speedway world with the top League in the world. Can someone explain to me how that happened and why they replaced England as the top League-the crowds. they get seem to be like England in the forties

Yeah, Andrzej is one of the last of that era.

Speedway - like other sports - goes in cycles, Bob. Remember when the Americans ruled for a while. Then the Danes. Then the Aussies. The big thing for the Poles in recent years has been the conveyor belt of good youngsters coming through.

As far as league, the Poles have better stadiums, and more sponsorship, so they can offer more to the riders - and so can Sweden.

There are many problems with league racing in the UK, and while mismanagement is a big factor, it just doesn't seem to be a "cool" sport anymore. Plus, losing stadia to development hasn't helped, particularly those that were also greyhound venues.

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I first saw Andrzej Pogorzelski at Wolverhampton and Cradley Heath in 1965 when the touring Rybnik team beat the home sides by 1 and 6 points respectively.  He was the joint star of the show at Cradley Heath, along with Nigel Boocock, guesting in place of the injured Ivor Brown.  Nigel triumphed the first time they met but Pogo gained revenge in the last heat, with both riders otherwise unbeaten.  He then defeated Nigel in a match race.  That was the season Nigel had a league average above 11 and was very hard to beat.  A few days earlier, against a strong Wolverhampton team, some of the tourists found the small Monmore Green track a bit tricky, but Wyglenda (12 point maximum), Woryna (11 paid 12 maximum) and Pogorzelski (11) saw their team home, with Pogo beaten only by Tommy Sweetman.  Rybnik did very well on that 1965 tour, largely due to being strengthened by Pogorzelski's inclusion. He was actually a Stal Gorzow rider.

 

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I started watching in 1974 and Pogo was one of the riders I wished I had seen, along with Plechanov and the like. I feel very envious of you who saw him ride.

 

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