Len Silver - Last Of A Dying Breed

[cityrebel 2,960]

like him or loathe him, len silver must be one of the last promoters prepared to run speedway meetings every week. since he has left rye house there have been big gaps in the home fixture list, sometimes going weeks without a meeting. despite the awkward start time and the dreaded curfew, kent still stage meetings virtually every week. they are rewarded with healthy crowds at central park, which proves there is still an appetite for regular speedway in this country. I might not be len's biggest fan, but i'm grateful to have somewhere to go on a weekly basis in this speedway starved area of the country!

[The White Knight 9,039]

The 'Great Man' Promoted and Sunderland in 1971/72.

 

I will be forever greatful to him for that.

[steve roberts 9,242]

A true promoting icon. Remember him well during his tenure at Hackney and Rye House. He even spent one season as Oxford Team Manager in 1984 when Oxford bought out Hackney's licence.

 

Okay he pulled the occasional fast one but a promoter and character in the true sense.

[Sidney the robin 4,735]

Great promoter a very good rider, people can knock him but his longevity in the sport is amazing. I have huge respect for him always have going to Hackney on a Friday night was always a decent night.😀

Edited July 13, 2016 by Sidney the robin

[Lefty 1,257]

Thought Nel Revlis was the Sunderland promoter, as Len Silver ran Hackney on the Friday race night!!!!

 

Surely the BSPA wouldn't allow 'doubling up' In the 70's

[00000 1,279]

Time for Len to call it a day...living on past glories

[cityrebel 2,960]

It's a shame the Eastbourne management are not prepared to run regular meetings at Arlington. The home fixture list for august is farcical for a holiday resort.

[The White Knight 9,039]

Thought Nel Revlis was the Sunderland promoter, as Len Silver ran Hackney on the Friday race night!!!!

 

Surely the BSPA wouldn't allow 'doubling up' In the 70's

Nel Revlis was Clerk of the Course at Sunderland.

 

Of course everyone knew............................................

 

Like other Promoters at the time he was another of the Speedway Characters of the olden days.

 

Now Len knows/knew how to actually Promote the Sport.

[RobMcCaffery 2,752]

Thought Nel Revlis was the Sunderland promoter, as Len Silver ran Hackney on the Friday race night!!!!

 

Surely the BSPA wouldn't allow 'doubling up' In the 70's

First up, Sunderland mainly ran on Sundays in the Silver period. He would also employ local managers. In 1973 when he took on Crewe on behalf of AP after Maury Littlechild's death he installed Peter Thorogood as the public face of Rayleigh.

 

Re the BSPA not allowing 'doubling-up', on the contrary, multiple-track promoters were very commonplace in those days. Silver ran Hackney from the mid-60s to 1983 but also various tracks in the second division/National League - Rayleigh, Sunderland, Rye House, Crayford, Crewe and Weymouth, for varying lengths of time.

 

In those days there was a consortium of promoters who traded under the name "Allied Presentations", including Silver, Danny Dunton, Maury Littlechild Ron Wilson and Reg Fearman so Silver's tracks and the likes of Oxford, Peterborough, Leicester, Middlesbrough, King's Lynn, Crewe and Reading, plus briefly Newcastle were closely inter-linked. Often, behind the scenes one of the AP members would be a director of a track without ever being publicly associated with it. For example in the early days of Rye House Rockets Reg Fearman was a director although Silver was in charge. Likewise Silver was closely involved ion the building of Smallmead.

 

Sunderland had various promoters in its existence, from Mike Parker during the abortive 1964 season, through Silver in 1971 and 72 then the Taylor family in 1973. I think part of the final 1974 season the last-mentioned sold it on to local promoters.

 

Back in the early days of Division 2/NNL/NL in fact it was rare for a D2 track not to be at least part owned by a D1 track. Often ownerships were hidden - it was decided by the Hoskins family that it was perhaps best not to let on that the Edinburgh, later Coatbridge promotion actually controlled Glasgow too!

 

Of course the whole story is further complicated by the use of front men to manage the business publicly while someone like Mike Parker actually had the real control. You of course can be a licensed promoter without having any significant financial stake.

 

Silver has a great record in the sport but one fault is that he holds onto a venture too long, as seen now on two occasions at Rye House.

 

The people he surrounds himself with can make you regret ever having heard of speedway though.

Edited July 14, 2016 by rmc

[Gresham 928]

His son was one of my favourite all time riders :-)

 

Met him a few times in La Plagne whilst skiing. Always had time for a chat...nice chap.

[00000 1,279]

It's a shame the Eastbourne management are not prepared to run regular meetings at Arlington. The home fixture list for august is farcical for a holiday resort.

Stock cars have two weekends

[Guest]

It's a shame the Eastbourne management are not prepared to run regular meetings at Arlington. The home fixture list for august is farcical for a holiday resort.

 

 

Stock cars have two weekends

 

Spedeworth Motorsport do have a busy schedule at Arlington Stadium in comparison to the speedway promotion. Here's Spedeworth's latest fixture list:

http://www.spedeworth.co.uk/venue.php?name=Eastbourne

[East End Fan 426]

Must take issue with Richard Weston who thinks Len Silver is too old and past it.."LIving on past glories". On what does he base

that allegation ?  For the past 5 years he has been in charge at Kent, a track that I attend several times in a season alongside Arlington.

So far as my eyes tell me, the attendances generally are very good, each meeting runs absolutely to the tight schedule that the Town

Planners have imposed, the racing is as good as any in the league, youngsters are very well catered for, as are the disabled, and the team,

after a shaky start, is always in the top section.  What else would Richard Weston expect.?  For a Octegenarian Silver seems to have his

finger on the pulse.  I wish him well though  I don't always agree with his public utterances. 

[Halifaxtiger 5,318]

Isle of Wight pretty much have a meeting every week throughout the summer.

After the fixture list was published, they moved swiftly to fill the gaps.

[Paulco 7,069]

51 minutes ago, Halifaxtiger said:

Isle of Wight pretty much have a meeting every week throughout the summer.

After the fixture list was published, they moved swiftly to fill the gaps.

Isle of Wight seem to have the type of forward thinking promotion set up that the sport needs . Any chance of them bringing their energy back up to the second tier again ?