Stewart Walker: "I'm 62 and I'm just going to carry on playing wheelchair rugby league"

Stewart Walker will never forget the moment at which he learned about disability sport for the first time.

Everything changed in 2005 and he is now about to embark on his 20th year of wheelchair rugby league.

Now 62, Walker is the oldest player at his club, York Knights, and one of the oldest in the RFL Wheelchair Championship, the second highest level of wheelchair rugby league in England.

Where it all started

Having spent more than a decade completely unaware of what the sport can do for him, Walker has no intention of slowing down now.

He explained: “I first started in 2005. Next year will be my 20th year of wheelchair rugby. I was an amateur rugby player and in 1993 I had a bad accident, I broke my back and was paralysed from the waist down. From 1993 to 2005, I didn’t know anything about any sports.

“A wheelchair rep came to measure me up for a new day chair. I didn’t know there were any sports clubs. I asked him if there were any sports clubs that did wheelchair rugby.

“He played for Halifax, he played basketball from October from March and then from March to October, he played wheelchair rugby. He said to come along and see what I thought. That’s where it started with me.

“I went to Halifax and had a look at it. I wasn’t really interested in basketball but because I’d played amateur rugby for 15 years, I was interested in rugby. They put me in a sports chair, I had a few sessions to get used to it.

“I ended up signing up and playing wheelchair basketball and then started rugby as well. It was great for me. Wheelchair rugby was just starting at that time, the one we play. The other one – Murderball – that already existed I think.

“I’m 62 years old, I feel fine at the minute so while I feel fit, I’m just going to carry on playing.”

Trailblazer

There were just two clubs teams back in 2005: Halifax, where Walker played, and Wigan.

With the sport still in its infancy, Walker was selected for the England team that travelled to Australia for the inaugural World Cup, bringing home the title.

He said: “It was great. We went to Australia. There were only four teams in the World Cup, it was quite small, we were there for three weeks but it was quite a small tournament. They are up to eight teams now and next time they might have a couple more to come in.

“I only went to that one World Cup. Once it was over, the next one wasn’t for five years. It was due to be in 2012 but because the Olympics were on at the same time, they played it the year after. The England set-up had all changed, the coach had already finished and by then I was about 50 years old, there were better players than me. So I only played that one time.”

"The sport has grown and it's massive now"

Based in Wakefield, Walker has played for a number of different clubs in the area, and is currently settled at York, who finished second in the Championship East in the season that has just finished.

The interest in the sport has swelled in recent years, particularly after the success of the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup which was held in England in 2022 and captured the imagination while being shown on the BBC.

At grassroots level, Walker has seen that impact up close.

He said: “It’s grown and it’s massive now. Since the two World Cups that were over in England, it’s taken off even more. There must 30-40 teams, maybe even more.

“There has been a lot of interest at grassroots, from 10-12-year-olds who want to play wheelchair rugby. It’s good to get people at that age and it's a totally inclusive game, too. 

"The sport has been good to me over the years and it's great to see so many other people from different backgrounds experiencing the same thing."