Graham Walters
{{Short description|Wales international rugby league footballer}}
{{for|the fictional character|Graham Walters (Home and Away)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2016}}
{{Infobox rugby league biography
|first = RU
|name = Graham Walters
|fullname = Graham Walters
|image = Graham Walters in Action.jpg
|imagesize =
|caption = Graham Walters in Action for Hull F.C.
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1953|3|1}}
|birth_place = Carmarthen, Wales
|death_date =
|death_place =
|weight =
|ru_position = Centre
|position = {{rlp|CE}}
|ru_club1 = Swansea RFC
|ru_year1start = 1977
|ru_year1end = 78
|ru_appearances1 = 1
|ru_tries1 =
|ru_goals1 =
|ru_fieldgoals1 =
|ru_points1 =
|club1 = Hull FC
|year1start = 1980
|year1end = 82
|appearances1 = 22
|tries1 = 7
|goals1 = 0
|fieldgoals1 = 0
|points1 = 21
|club2 = Wakefield Trinity
|year2start = 1982
|year2end =
|appearances2 = 23
|tries2 = 5
|goals2 = 0
|fieldgoals2 = 0
|points2 = 15
|club3 = {{nowrap|Cardiff City (Bridgend) Blue Dragons}}
|year3start = 1983
|year3end = 85
|appearances3 = 8
|tries3 = 2
|goals3 = 0
|fieldgoals3 = 0
|points3 = 8
|club4 = Runcorn Highfield
|year4start = 1986
|year4end =
|appearances4 = 4
|tries4 = 1
|goals4 = 0
|fieldgoals4 = 0
|points4 = 4
|teamA = Wales
|yearAstart = 1980
|yearAend = 84
|appearancesA = 3
|triesA = 0
|goalsA = 0
|fieldgoalsA = 0
|pointsA = 0
|new = yes
|retired = yes
|updated = 15 May 2024
| module = {{infobox military person
| embed = yes
| allegiance = {{flag|United Kingdom}}
| branch = {{army|United Kingdom}}
| unit = Welsh Guards
Special Air Service
| rank =
| awards =
| battles = 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 {{rlp|ce}}.{{cite book| first1= Graham| last1= Williams| first2= Peter| last2= Lush| first3= David| last3= Farrar| title= The British Rugby League Records Book| publisher= London League| isbn= 978-1-903659-49-6| year= 2009| pages= 108–114}}
Rugby career
=Hull FC=
Walters joined rugby league club Hull FC in October 1979.{{cite news |title=Hull snap up Welsh R.U. centre Walters |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000324/19791001/016/0016 |work=Hull Daily Mail |date=1 October 1979 |page=16 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription}} He played at {{rlp|ce}} 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
{{BLP unsourced section|date=August 2024}}
File:Graham Walters Military.jpg
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
{{Reflist}}
External links
File:Graham Walters Rugby Team.jpg File:Graham Walters 001.jpg
File:Graham Walters and Ricky Hatton.jpg
- (archived by web.archive.org) [https://web.archive.org/web/20151007001829/http://www.swansearfc.co.uk/Teams/Player?personId=147898 Statistics at swansearfc.co.uk]
- [http://www.hullfc.com/hullfc/contents/?page_id=4264/player/150127 Statistics at hullfc.com]{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walters, Graham}}
Category:20th-century Welsh sportsmen
Category:Cardiff City Blue Dragons players
Category:Liverpool City (rugby league) players
Category:Rugby league players from Carmarthenshire
Category:Special Air Service soldiers
Category:Wakefield Trinity players
Category:Wales national rugby league team players
Category:Welsh Guards soldiers