It has been announced that co-promoter of the Kent CTA Fire Kings Len Silver is off to Buckingham Palace in recognition of his services to speedway.
Silver has been invited to attend a Royal Garden Party given by Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
Nowadays a resident of the Garden of England, veteran Speedway man Silver has done it all in an amazing career which began riding Cycle Speedway on the bomb sites in his native East End after the Second World War to moving onto the motorcycle version of the shale sport in the 1950s, capped by winning the Provincial Riders Championship in 1962 before a racing accident back in East London at Hackney ended his career on track.
Undeterred, the irrepressible Silver turned immediately to management and promotion, making the famous and late lamented Wick Stadium in Hackney (now the site of the Olympic Park) into a Mecca for Speedway for over 20 years under his promotion, as well as opening league Speedway at the picturesque Rye House track in Hertfordshire (where he still promotes to this day) and running tracks as far afield as Sunderland and Crewe in the north and Rayleigh and Weymouth in the south.
Probably most significant of all though, was Silver’s tenure as the Manager of the England international team, leading a side including Kentish Speedway favourites Dave Jessup and Malcolm Simmons to a first ever World Team Cup win 40 years ago in 1974, defending the title the following year and enjoying overall an unparalleled record as national team boss of only three defeats in 39 test matches.
Though now in his 80s, Silver’s peerless knowledge of Speedway track building and preparation and of running the popular stadium-based motorcycle sport led to his involvement in the opening of Britain’s newest track at Central Park in 2013.
Speaking about the opportunity to visit the Palace, Len said: “I am extremely proud and privileged to have received this invitation. It is the next best thing to a knighthood or CBE.”
“I have a lot more to give to the sport, though. When I get to a hundred, I expect another message from the Queen!”