Len Silver - Last Of A Dying Breed

[cityrebel]

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]

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

 

I will be forever greatful to him for that.

[steve roberts]

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]

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]

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

[cityrebel]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[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]

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]

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]

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 ?

[Halifaxtiger]

Just now, Paulco said:

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 ?

Long trip down my friend but you should try them out. They are a truly remarkable outfit, setting a standard that shames much of the rest of the sport. 

Its pretty much characterised by their promoters willingness to come on here and engage with us all - not the 'utterly without credibility' stance of other teams.

I'll see if I can get him to respond to you - knowing him a bit, the sky's the limit for the Warriors but this isn't a man who will pour good money after bad for one single second.

Huge enthusiasm but financial accountability. There's a novelty 

[Paulco]

19 minutes ago, Halifaxtiger said:

Long trip down my friend but you should try them out. They are a truly remarkable outfit, setting a standard that shames much of the rest of the sport. 

Its pretty much characterised by their promoters willingness to come on here and engage with us all - not the 'utterly without credibility' stance of other teams.

I'll see if I can get him to respond to you - knowing him a bit, the sky's the limit for the Warriors but this isn't a man who will pour good money after bad for one single second.

Huge enthusiasm but financial accountability. There's a novelty 

I understand the logistical difficulties which forced them out of the second tier in the first place . 

I think back to the Chris Holder inspired side which knocked us out of the play offs in a terrific meeting at Glasgow in 2006 . They would be a tremendous asset to our league , but the northern bias in it would probably prevent that from happening . 

[StevePark]

1 hour ago, Paulco said:

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 ?

I used to love our trips to the Isle of Wight.  Just a shame we had to (usually) visit Exeter the night before!  

[Triple.H.]

1 hour ago, StevePark said:

I used to love our trips to the Isle of Wight.  Just a shame we had to (usually) visit Exeter the night before!  

but i bet you would love to be able to visit Exeter again

[steve roberts]

14 minutes ago, Triple.H. said:

but i bet you would love to be able to visit Exeter again

...an experience in itself!

Remember when on holiday down in the west country we used to visit Exeter on the Monday, Weymouth on the Tuesday and Poole on Wednesday. If on holiday in Sussex it was Eastbourne on the Sunday followed by Poole on Wednesdays.

Great days!

[barrybishop]

2 hours ago, Paulco said:

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 ?

Thanks for the nice words, we try to always look at the positives of the sport, our club and put our best foot forward so to speak. We also value the effort everyone makes to come to speedway or be part of it... we know what it is like to travel because we do it every week too.

However, we really do love the action in the National League and to be now able to tie up the shool with entry in to the Southern Development League we really can say the we have a develop step for anyone who wants to be a speedway rider.

Your question was could we come up a league.... this is of course something we would consider but it isn't really on the radar for now. For now, we have to grow the club, ensure  its longterm existance by breaking even (at the very least) every year. If you ask me where I want the club to be, then I hope my response is the same as any promoters...we want a viable club that provides great entertainment and a fun filled family night out. If that is in the NL or another one, the objective has to be the same. I also truly believe we can be the Manchester United of speedway.... if that makes sense.. to have an internationally marketed clubs with followers everywhere... thats the target.

All the best

Barry

[25yearfan]

Great work by the IoW promotion since their rebirth although I still and will always maintain that "Islanders" is such a better nickname (because it is original and can only be associated  with an Island team of which the IoW are the only one!)than the "Warriors" which has been around for donkeys years when I believe Wigan were called that!

 

Back to the main subject point - Len Silver is one of the all time greats and still continues to produce the goods at Kent. OK he is cantankerous, thinks he's always right and doesn't accept others opinions, but I'm sure Kent speedway would be worse of without his input!

 

That said, Kent speedway will sooner rather than later have big decisions to make cause with their healthy support and impressive facilities, the clamour for the Kings to operate at a higher level has already begun so eventually in order to maintain interest, avoiding going stale (like Rye House did under Uncle Len), they will have to move up a level! 

Edited March 4, 2018 by 25yearfan