LEN SILVER 1932-2024
13/10/2024
Former FIM Speedway World Team Cup-winning England and Great Britain manager Len Silver has passed away at the age of 92.
Silver spent a lifetime in the sport, starting his racing career with the Ipswich Witches in 1953, before also competing for Exeter and Hackney.
He retired from racing due to injury following a crash at Hackney in 1964, with his biggest victory as a rider coming in the 1962 Provincial League Riders’ Championship – the equivalent of the modern-day Championship League Riders Championship.
Silver then started a storied career as a team manager and promoter – including two separate spells managing his country.
He led Great Britain to World Team Cup gold at Wembley in 1973, before taking England to victory at the 1974 competition in Chorzow, Poland and making it three in a row at German track Norden in 1975.
Silver was also a skilled track curator and prepared the surface for Wembley’s last-ever FIM Speedway World Final in 1981, which produced one of the sport’s most memorable meetings – won by American legend Bruce Penhall.
He had a long and hugely successful promoting career, which included two decades at East London club Hackney, as well as involvement in teams like Rayleigh, Rye House and Eastbourne.
He bought Rye House Stadium, returning for a second spell promoting the Rockets when he revived the club in 1999, winning the Premier League (now Championship) title in both 2005 and 2007.
In 2013, he launched the Kent Kings at Central Park Stadium, continuing as promoter of the club through to his retirement at the end of the 2021 season.
Silver was inducted into British Speedway’s Hall of Fame in 2021 and continued to attend the sport regularly following the successful revival of Oxford in 2022. He was in attendance at Cowley for the first leg of the Cab Direct Championship Grand Final between the Cheetahs and Poole on October 5.
Everyone involved in the FIM Speedway World Championships sends their condolences to Len’s family and friends at this sad time.