Emlyn Walters (20 May 1918 – 21 January 2001) was a Welsh

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

, and professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for

Glynneath RFC Glynneath RFC are a Welsh Rugby Union club playing in WRU Championship West of the WRU National Leagues. The Club has won a number of honours over the years, including the locally famous Invincibles of the 1961–62 season captained by Bas Thoma ...

and

Pontypridd RFC Pontypridd Rugby Football Club () is a rugby union team from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It competes in the Admiral Premiership and the WRU Premiership Cup, a trophy which they won for the 7th time in 2025. Their last league title ...

, and representative level rugby league (RL) for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, and at club level for

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

and

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the t ...

, as a .

Background

Emlyn Walters was born in

Glynneath Glynneath ( ; also spelt ''Glyn-neath'' and ''Glyn Neath'') is a town, community and electoral ward lying on the River Neath in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It was formerly in the historic county of Glamorgan. Glynneath ward ...

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...

district, Wales, and he died aged 82 in

Cwmgwrach Blaengwrach ( , ) is a community near Glynneath and Resolven in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It is also the name of an electoral ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough, which is a larger area than the Community. The princip ...

, Wales.

Playing career

flyhalf In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

Oliver Morris lodged at a house in Rosser Street,

Maesycoed is a settlement to the south and west of Pontypridd town centre in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Maesycoed is a district in the town of Pontypridd within the Rhondda electoral ward and is bounded by Graig to the south, Pwll ...

before he 'went North' and signed for Hunslet F.C. in November 1937, with team mate Emlyn Walters, who went on to Captain Pontypridd RFC from 1937 to 1939, before he too turned professional with

in July 1939. Walters was an outstanding player in the great Bradford Northern team of this era. His career was interrupted in 1944 when he was called up to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

in the Second World War where he served as a

Chief Petty Officer A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards, usually above petty officer. By country Australia "Chief Petty Officer" is the second highest non-commissioned rank in the Royal Australian Navy ...

International honours

Emlyn Walters won 10 caps for

(RL) in 1940–1948 while at Bradford Northern.

County Cup Final appearances

Emlyn Walters played on the in

's 15-5 victory over

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...

in the 1940–41 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1940-41 season at

Fartown Ground The Fartown Ground or just simply Fartown is a sports ground located in the Huddersfield suburb of Fartown, Huddersfield, Fartown in West Yorkshire, England and is predominantly famous for being the home ground of Huddersfield Giants, Huddersfi ...

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

on Saturday 5 April 1941, played on the in the 24-0 victory over Halifax in the

1941–42 Yorkshire Cup The 1941–42 Yorkshire Cup was the thirty-fourth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. Organised by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the Yorkshire Cup was a knock-out competition between the professional rugby league cl ...

Final during the 1941-42 season at

on Saturday 6 December 1941, and played on the in the 10-7 aggregate victory over

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...

in the 1943–44 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1943-44 season, the 5-2 first-leg victory at

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium (known as Bartercard Odsal Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a multi-purpose stadium, multipurpose stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium is currently the home of Bradford Bulls rugby league football club and ...

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

on Saturday 27 November 1943, and the 5-5 second-leg draw at Lawkholme Lane,

on Saturday 4 December 1943.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Emlyn Walters played in

's 8-3 aggregate victory over

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

in the 1943–44 Challenge Cup Final during the 1943-44 season, absent from the 0-3 first-leg defeat at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

on Saturday 15 April 1944, he played in the 8-0 second-leg victory at

on Saturday 22 April 1944, and played and scored the opening try in the 8-4 victory over

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

in the

1946–47 Challenge Cup The 1946–47 Challenge Cup was the 46th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Leeds reached the Wembley final for the second time, doing so w ...

Final during the 1946-47 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on Saturday 3 May 1947 in front of a crowd of 77,605.

Rugby Football League Championship

1939–40 Championship play-off final played over two legs, played in the first leg, against Swinton away won 21–13 home won 16–9. The 1940–41 Championship play-off Final against

played in both legs away won 17–6 home won 28–9 away, scoring a try in the home and away ties. The 1941-42 Championship play-off Final against

losing 0-13, at Headingley, Leeds.

Yorkshire League

Yorkshire League Winners 1939–40 and Yorkshire League Winners 1940–41

Testimonial match

Bradford Northern's home fixture with

on Wednesday 12 May 1949 was Emlyn Walters

Testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

which he shared with Willie Davies, this match was also their great friend and fellow Welshman

Frank Whitcombe Frank William Whitcombe (29 May 1913 – 17 January 1958), also known by the nickname of "The Big Man", was a Welsh rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s. He played rugby union (RU) for Cardif ...

's last match for Bradford Northern, a crowd of 19,000 attended Odsal to witness the game

References

4. https://web.archive.org/web/20160804032351/http://www.ponty.net/captain-marvel

External links

Photograph "The 1947 Team" at rlhp.co.ukPhotograph "Team to visit Barrow in the Cup 1946" at rlhp.co.ukPhotograph "Emlyn Walters" at rlhp.co.ukPhotograph "Emlyn Walters" at rlhp.co.ukPhotograph "Northern at Fartown" at rlhp.co.uk
* ttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-31057224 Stolen Bradford Northern rugby medals appeal by police {{DEFAULTSORT:Walters, Emlyn 1918 births 2001 deaths 20th-century Welsh sportsmen Bradford Bulls players Footballers who switched code Glynneath RFC players Hull F.C. players Pontypridd RFC players Royal Navy personnel of World War II Rugby league players from Neath Port Talbot Rugby league wingers Rugby union players from Glynneath Rugby union wings Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players