John Walton started playing rugby in grammar school in England in 1950 at the age of 13. He continued to play school rugby, culminating his school career as captain for which he was awarded a tankard in 1954, and followed up with one more year as part of the school old boys’ team in senior rugby.
In 1956, at the age of 19, John first came to Canada to train as an Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot returning home in 1958. At the conclusion of his RAF service, John returned to Canada in1959 locating in Winnipeg, where he married in 1960 and began to raise two sons with his wife Joan.
It was during the mid sixties that John was to revive his passion for rugby. Along with Derry Newton, John was to begin playing rugby again and together they were instrumental in reviving the local Winnipeg Wanderers Rugby Football Club. The club at that time practice on Churchill Drive and travelled throughout the province of Saskatchewan and the northern United States to play the game they loved. It was the revival of the Wanderers RFC that was to serve as the catalyst for club rugby in Winnipeg as shortly thereafter the Winnipeg Wasps Rugby Football Club was formed, followed by the Assassins and Saracens Rugby Football Clubs.
John continued to play rugby in Manitoba for many years, was President of the Manitoba Rugby Union in its early days during the later sixties, and was a stalwart contributor to both his club and the sport. Following his retirement as a player, John took up the art of refereeing which continued at the club and high school levels following his move to Vancouver for work in 1983 and again following his retirement from work and return to Winnipeg in 1993.
John’s contributions as a Pioneer to the development of rugby in Manitoba are indeed worthy of distinction and induction to the Manitoba Rugby Hall of Fame.
In 1956, at the age of 19, John first came to Canada to train as an Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot returning home in 1958. At the conclusion of his RAF service, John returned to Canada in1959 locating in Winnipeg, where he married in 1960 and began to raise two sons with his wife Joan.
It was during the mid sixties that John was to revive his passion for rugby. Along with Derry Newton, John was to begin playing rugby again and together they were instrumental in reviving the local Winnipeg Wanderers Rugby Football Club. The club at that time practice on Churchill Drive and travelled throughout the province of Saskatchewan and the northern United States to play the game they loved. It was the revival of the Wanderers RFC that was to serve as the catalyst for club rugby in Winnipeg as shortly thereafter the Winnipeg Wasps Rugby Football Club was formed, followed by the Assassins and Saracens Rugby Football Clubs.
John continued to play rugby in Manitoba for many years, was President of the Manitoba Rugby Union in its early days during the later sixties, and was a stalwart contributor to both his club and the sport. Following his retirement as a player, John took up the art of refereeing which continued at the club and high school levels following his move to Vancouver for work in 1983 and again following his retirement from work and return to Winnipeg in 1993.
John’s contributions as a Pioneer to the development of rugby in Manitoba are indeed worthy of distinction and induction to the Manitoba Rugby Hall of Fame.