Len Revell

DOB: 28th October 1927

Position: Defender

Season of first appearance: 1946/47

Season of last appearance: 1958/59

Full Appearances: 103

Substitute: 0

Goals: 1

Also played for:

Ashford Town, Snowdown Colliery Welfare.

Player Profile:

Long-serving player who grew up in Thanet and had two spells with Margate following World War II. They were split by a stint with Ashford that spanned the 1949/50 to 1951/52 seasons.

Len first appeared for Margate during the 1946/47 season, the club's first after re-forming. He spent the majority of the campaign in the reserves but also made two first-team appearances. Len made his debut on 16.11.46 when Margate beat Snowdown 5-1 at Hartsdown Park but had to wait until 10.5.47 for his next first-team opportunity.

However, he featured more regularly during the 1947/48 campaign, making nine first-team appearances. He had to wait until 26.12.47 for his chance but finished the season with a run of six matches to seemingly establish himself.

Len wasn't able to gain a regular place during the 1948/49 campaign either, although he did make 18 appearances. He scored one goal during the season, a remarkable lob from just inside his own half in a 5-3 win over Canterbury at Hartsdown on 4.12.48 - the City keeper was Peter Peters. Len also came to the attention of several Football League clubs during the season and played trial games for Leyton Orient. He also represented Kent but joined Ashford in the summer of 1949.

Len's second spell at Margate began in December 1951 and he made 15 appearances before the end of the 1951/52 campaign.

He was then almost ever-present during the 1952/53 season, making 40 appearances without scoring, and, on 9.5.53, Len was part of the side that drew 1-1 with visitors Folkestone to share the Kent Senior Shield.

The 1953/54 season was a nightmare for him as he broke his ankle in a game against Betteshanger at Hartsdown Park in September 1953. Len didn't make another first-team appearance during the season although he played a few times for the reserves towards the end of the campaign.

Len also spent almost the entire 1954/55 season in the reserves, only getting a first-team chance in April 1955 when regular centre-back Brian Moffatt was injured. Len then went on to play in most of the season's remaining games and finished up with 11 first-team appearances to his credit.

However, he found himself back in the reserves for the whole of the 1955/56 season.

The 1956/57 campaign was another in which Len failed to make a single first-team appearance and he only played twice for the reserves during the season. That was due to him suffering from a serious chest complaint which saw him hospitalised several times.

However, he eventually recovered his health and spent the 1957/58 season in the reserves, making just one first-team appearance.

The 1958/59 season turned out to be Len's last at Margate and once again he spent most of it in the reserves. However, on 17.1.59 he made a rare appearance for the senior side when he played in 5-3 defeat at Dartford. It was a Kent Senior Shield tie and Len also made one more first-team appearance during the season. His final match for the club was on 22.4.59, a 3-3 Kent League draw at Tunbridge Wells - more than 13 years after his first. At the end of the campaign, Len was released.

He later became a well-known local bowls player and was still playing cricket for Westgate in the summer of 1973.

Len died on 16.7.01 aged 73 and had still been living locally at the time. His ashes were scattered on the pitch at Hartsdown Park. An article in the Isle of Thanet Gazette marking Len's passing described him as "a multi-talented sportsman" and a "key player" for Margate in the years after the Second World War. Len's widow June told the paper: "He was very modest and didn't talk much about what he'd achieved apart from to people who he'd actually played with. They were all happy days, and he always played just for the love of sport."