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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.

Never heard that either Steve but to be 2.0 up and just give the helmet up says everything.Mike was usually true to his word he had promised to do the booking and honoured his commitment.As Grachan mentioned in another post Mike's demolition job on Phil Crump at the Abbey in the helmet was something else.

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'd be very surprised if the FIM & BSI were that forward thinking.

Thought Swindon would have been more appropriate?

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

Shocking. Can’t believe they’ve shown the whole league season with very good coverage, but missing the biggest matches of the season.

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

Yes, it was indeed a four-teamer. Union Jacks (Wilson, Collins, Jessup, Betts, Simmons) 34 Lions (Booey, McMillan, Hunter, Pusey, Chris Morton) 26 Australasians (Mauger, Cribb (who replaced Briggo), Boulger, Sanders, Valentine) 26 Scandinavians (Persson, Nilsson, Soren Karlsson, Stangeland (replaced Finn Thomsen), Ollie Nygren (replaced Rikhard Helsen) 10 Top scorers were: McMillan, Mauger (10), Collins, Simmons (9), Boocock, Wilson (8). All from four rides. The 'Second Half' was a Testimonial Trophy knockout, won by Collins, with Persson second and Cribb third (Wilson retired). What a wonderful Sunday afternoon that was, and it didn't matter that it took hours to get out of the car park afterwards!

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 ...

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

I have to agree a lot of what is being said about Michael on this thread. He was brilliant at the age of 16 the like of which I have never seen in any other rider in 50 years. In my view even the extremely talented Darcy Ward was well short of the level Michael was at as a teenager.