mark cox Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 A truly brilliant rider to watch, very exciting and stylish to boot. We had hopes of him signing for Cradley after some great guest appearances in the mid 80's, but he went to Swindon. A great racer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 I remember the first time he came to Owlerton in 1988,in his first race he went charging into the 3rd turn flatout (arms and legs trailing allover the place lol) pulled a huge locker mid turn,span round and fell off,picked himself up,bowed to the highly amused crowd,hopped back on the bike and took it slower the the next time round! He was rumoured to be on Sheffield's shopping list for 1989,along with Joe Screen... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted May 7, 2004 Report Share Posted May 7, 2004 The race is Heat 4 of Swindon v Ipswich on 29 August 1988. Final score: Swindon 51 Ipswich 37. See my signature for the riders in the race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted May 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2004 (edited) Young Sunbrite Lions vs. The Wallabies ,Hackney sept 12 1986 A.Silver 14+3b.points A.Galvin 14+3b.p P.Thorp 16 M.Dugard 10+6b.p J.Luckhurst 6 G.Havelock 8+1 A.Stevens 0 N.Tatum 6 Admitedly against a poor Aussie side but Silver and Galvin were only beaten in race 1 by Steve Regeling When was Andy riding for Eastbourne then? The only time i went to speedway between 91 and 2002 was 95 Eastbourne vs Bradford and he wasnt in the team Edited May 7, 2004 by iris123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sussex bulldog Posted May 7, 2004 Report Share Posted May 7, 2004 Andrew was at Eastbourne sometime between 1989 and 1992 i think but cannot remember exactly when. I think Len was involved in the promotion team at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted May 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2004 Was riding for Swindon at the last meeting when the Dons finished in 91,so must have been the year later Put a few pics on www.community.webshots.com/user/maccattack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiddlyKestrel Posted May 7, 2004 Report Share Posted May 7, 2004 (edited) Hi-oh joined Eastbourne in the winter of 91-92. 1992 was the year when Swindon finally got relegated to Division Two and one of the matches that sent them down was a clash between Arena and Eastbourne. Brian Karger (having been dropped at Swindon mid-season) and Bo Petersen riding for Arena and Hi-oh and Peter Nahlin riding for Eastbourne. if memory serves correctly Eastbourne needed a win over Arena to stay up and the riders involved in a last heat decider were those previously mentioned. without doubt Andrew Silver was one of my teenage heroes and one race i remember most vividly was in 1987 when he after tracking down Eriksen and Stekkers (Wolverhampton) for two laps rode straight through the middle of them coming out of the fourth bend. the roar from the crowd was one of the loudest i've ever heard at Blunsdon. Edited May 7, 2004 by KiddlyKestrel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sussex bulldog Posted May 7, 2004 Report Share Posted May 7, 2004 It was 1992 ! I am glad my brain is still working a bit. It must have been 1993 when Andrew was at Coventry in an Eagles v Bees match and retired. What a loss to speedway. This thread has brought back some happy memories for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbit Posted May 7, 2004 Report Share Posted May 7, 2004 Nice to see Andrew Silver remembered. He was one of those riders you loved to hate as an opposition rider - kind of like an early version on Nicki P and one of my favourites from the early 90s. Hard as nails but always looked forward to watching him as an opposition rider beacuse you never knew what was going to happen. Remember some right goings on when we visited Arlington and some races involving our Tom Knudsen (not the Bees one) and then Boycie with first Tom ending up under the fence and then Silver a couple of races later. Shame he left the sport when he did - definitely one of the characters. Good to hear he's still kind of still in contact with the sport through Rye House Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted May 8, 2004 Report Share Posted May 8, 2004 www.community.webshots.com/user/maccattack Is the address correct? I can't get anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted May 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2004 can get in there through the Unknown riders thread i started i hope.not too good at this. I see after Andrew was criticised by Ivan he claimed he had overtaken more riders in his short career than Mauger had in his rather longer one Cheeky bugger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted May 8, 2004 Report Share Posted May 8, 2004 Ah, I've got it now. Thanks. Good to see there's one of him wearing the 'Suicidal Tendencies' hat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted May 8, 2004 Report Share Posted May 8, 2004 Here's something that might be quite intersting. It's Andrew Silver being interviewed by a typical 80s 'yoof TV' programme called Network 7, when they did a short piece to promote the 1987 British Final. Network 7 Clip 1 Network 7 Clip 2 Ooh, I've gone all Silver-stalgic now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bee Posted May 11, 2004 Report Share Posted May 11, 2004 Ivan Mauger was right. 100%. Smashing rider and very talented at second division level, ala the Owen Bros. But that riding style! At Rye it was tremendous and he was almost totally unbeatable. The tight track suited that bending over backwards full lock cornering technique. But trouble was, he rode the same on the big open tracks like Swindon. Where full lockers actually lose you a lot of ground. He was never going to change his style, and therefore Mauger was right in reflecting he would never be top class. Still good at his best though. But overall my opinion was the same as Ivan's. A real waste of a great talent never really fully forfilled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatface Posted May 11, 2004 Report Share Posted May 11, 2004 Agree with most of what Bee says. Silver had his moments, but I don't think he was ever going to better than he actually was. having said that, it's a smashing clip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Not sure I 100% agree, although he certainly had a unique style. He certainly never had any problems getting round Swindon, and a move to a small track like Eastbourne never helped his career. I think it was more a case of a rather casual attitude than anything else, and I suspect that is what Ivan saw in him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsmithsmooth Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Silver often lost places during races at Swindon, simply because he would pull a full locker and virtually stop. On small tracks like Rye and Arena where he did his apprenticeship you have to turn a bike hard, but There is no need to do that at Blunsdon, something Andrew never learned. That apart, I do believe he didn't use his talents to the full, which is a shame, but there you go. I do recall him turning up to a meet. at Swindon at 7.30 pm and he was so layed back about it, he had to be lifted onto his bike, not sure why! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralMelchett Posted May 14, 2004 Report Share Posted May 14, 2004 The race is Heat 4 of Swindon v Ipswich on 29 August 1988. Final score: Swindon 51 Ipswich 37. See my signature for the riders in the race. Goodness me how you have brought back happy memories. Silver was my all time hero, as when i first went to speedway in 1987 he was in his heyday at Arena. The following year he moved up to Swindon and in Aug 1988 we were on holiday in the West Country and my Dad and I took a trip to Blunsdon. I remember the meeting well, Andy scored 14 from 5 and was involved in one of the best races i've ever seen, i'm downloading the clip now but i expect its the one where he feigns to go outsdie donkey and then cuts back to the inside? Classic stuff from a racer. I'm a bit of a expert on Andy's career as i followed it with such interest. he was never to reach the heights he could and maybe should have but i suspect speedway was more of a hobby for him. He did retire and then make a comeback with Eastbourne which for me was a real kick in the teeth as i wanted him back at Arena. he was quite successful for a couple of seasons if I remember correctly but then called it a day. I think Sir kelvin tatum summed it up well on sky this week when he said Lee Richardson had a more polished approach but SCott Nicholls had more natural ability Well for my money Silver was blessed with so much ability, more than any other rider but to a certain extent he wasted it. he was a VERY good snowboarder and often entered championships etc and he always used to work in the Chalets with his fathers business over the winter and i think the piste lifestlye suited him! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralMelchett Posted May 14, 2004 Report Share Posted May 14, 2004 can get in there through the Unknown riders thread i started i hope.not too good at this. I see after Andrew was criticised by Ivan he claimed he had overtaken more riders in his short career than Mauger had in his rather longer one Cheeky bugger That was in 87 after he'd just won the NLRC, cheeky but probably not wrong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shazzybird Posted May 14, 2004 Report Share Posted May 14, 2004 The first clip for an awful second I thought he had pink curling tongs and was doing someones hair til the clip kicked in then all was revealed lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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