 Graham Walters in Action for Hull F.C. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Graham Walters | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1953-03-01) 1 March 1953 (age 71) Carmarthen, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Rugby union | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Rugby league | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Military career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Service |  British Army | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unit | Welsh Guards Special Air Service | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Battles / wars | Northern Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Graham Walters (born 1 March 1953 in Carmarthen, South Wales) is a Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s; he is also a member of the Welsh Guards and the British Army. He played club-level rugby union (RU) for Llanelli, Carmarthen Quins and Athletic, Kidwelly RFC, Hendy RFC, Carmarthen County Rugby, and Swansea RFC, as a Centre, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Wales, and at club-level for Hull FC, Wakefield Trinity, and Cardiff City (Bridgend) Blue Dragons, as a centre.
Rugby career
Hull FC
Walters joined rugby league club Hull FC in October 1979. He played at centre in Hull's 5–10 defeat by Hull Kingston Rovers in the 1980 Challenge Cup Final during the 1979–80 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 3 May 1980, in front of a crowd of 95,000. Hull FC also won the BBC 2 Floodlight trophy in the same year.
International honours
Graham Walters won a cap for Wales (RL) while at Hull, and Bridgend Blue Dragons 1980-1984, earning 2 caps + 1 cap (interchange/substitute).
Military career
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At the age of 15, Graham Walters joined the junior Welsh Guards as a boy soldier. He was soon made Lance Corporal and climbed his way up the ranks, eventually making junior Sergeant Major. He took on the role of PTI instructor and speedily achieved the status of Judo black belt, and also became ABA champion boxer of the British Army. With his enormous talent for sport, it was inevitable he started to play rugby for the Welsh Guards and the British Army, previously playing for his home country Wales for the under 15-17s.
Graham Walters joined the 1st Battalion of the Welsh Guards after leaving the position of junior guardsman. Being a marksman of all weapons, he also was assigned as a sniper. Following on from this, he became a Guards Para for 6 months, then was attached to the G-squadron of the SAS regiment; he did 4 tours of Northern Ireland of which one was undercover. During this time, Graham Walters was in active service in Belize and Cyprus.
Note
Before the start of the 1984/85 season, Cardiff City Blue Dragons relocated from Ninian Park in Cardiff, to Coychurch Road Ground in Bridgend, and were renamed Bridgend Blue Dragons.
References
- ^ "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- Williams, Graham; Lush, Peter; Farrar, David (2009). The British Rugby League Records Book. London League. pp. 108–114. ISBN 978-1-903659-49-6.
- "Hull snap up Welsh R.U. centre Walters". Hull Daily Mail. 1 October 1979. p. 16 – via British Newspaper Archive.
External links
- (archived by web.archive.org) Statistics at swansearfc.co.uk
- Statistics at hullfc.com
- 1953 births
- Living people
- Cardiff City Blue Dragons players
- Hull F.C. players
- Liverpool City (rugby league) players
- Rugby league centres
- Rugby league players from Carmarthenshire
- Rugby union centres
- Special Air Service soldiers
- Swansea RFC players
- Wakefield Trinity players
- Wales national rugby league team players
- Welsh Guards soldiers
- Welsh rugby league players
- Welsh rugby union players