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 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.[1][2]
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Graham Walters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby league | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby career edit
Hull edit
Walters joined rugby league club Hull in October 1979.[3] He played right-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.
International honours edit
Graham Walters won caps for Wales (RL) while at Hull, and Bridgend Blue Dragons 1980-1984, earning 2 caps + 1 cap (interchange/substitute).[1]
Military career edit
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 18 months, then joined the SAS regiment; he did 6 tours of Northern Ireland of which three were undercover. During this time, Graham Walters was in active service in Belize and Cyprus.
Note edit
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 edit
- ^ a b c "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 edit
- (archived by web.archive.org) Statistics at swansearfc.co.uk
- Statistics at hullfc.com[permanent dead link]