{"id":6264,"date":"2025-10-22T15:46:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T14:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/?p=6264"},"modified":"2025-10-22T15:49:03","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T14:49:03","slug":"ethan-walker-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/sport\/2025\/10\/22\/ethan-walker-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethan Walker Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Make
Credit – Martyn Robertson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Whilst on a football scholarship in America, promising Aberdeenshire-based sportsman Ethan Walker tragically sustained catastrophic injuries in a car accident. After an incredible recovery, he undertook a cycle from Hampden to Munich aiming to arrive in time for Scotland\u2019s opening match of Euro 2024. Alongside his knee surgeon Gordon Mackay, Scotland fan Stephen Collie, and filmmaker Martyn Robertson, <\/span>Walker is the subject of the film Make It to Munich. Chronicling their journey, the film tells a story of resilience, endurance, and the power of sport in aiding the body and mind. The film was selected at multiple festivals, including the Sport Film Festival, New York Lift-Off Film Festival, and the Silicon Beach film festival. In this interview, we ask Ethan about his experience on the cycle, what it took to achieve what he has, the film, and football in Aberdeenshire.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gaudie: First of all, I understand you were in Hollywood recently, how was that experience?<\/span><\/p>\n

Ethan: Oh, it was brilliant. It\u2019s definitely what you think, there\u2019s big scenery, we stayed at the Roosevelt.<\/span><\/p>\n

G: Sounds amazing. Could you tell us a bit about the reaction to the film, and what people\u2019s reactions meant to you?<\/span><\/p>\n

E: Everyone\u2019s had different reactions. Some people have said, \u201cIt\u2019s so funny, it\u2019s brilliant.\u201d But then others have been, \u201cIt\u2019s so sad, I was crying my eyes out the whole time.\u201d It makes me feel special, almost. It\u2019s a good feeling that people are touched by it, but I don\u2019t want to see people crying!<\/span><\/p>\n

G: Following on from that, what kind of takeaways do you hope people have from the film?<\/span><\/p>\n

E: I just hope people realise that if you put your body up against something, it can manage. As long as you have the right mindset it\u2019s completely fine, you can do it. I hope people take a positive attitude away from the film, a can-do attitude.<\/span><\/p>\n

G: I want to ask you a bit about the cycle itself. What kind of mentality did you have during the cycle, and what kind of headspace were you in?<\/span><\/p>\n

E: I was just focussed on food and just trying to ride until midnight every day, that was a lot of my focus, that and helping everyone get along.<\/span><\/p>\n

G: Actually, that brings me on to my next question. You seem like you had a great relationship with the guys you cycled with, how important was that relationship to the completion of the journey?<\/span><\/p>\n

E: It was amazing. We all basically clicked the day that we met for the first time, and the cycle just brought us even closer. We\u2019re all still in touch now, like you said we were in Hollywood this month!<\/span><\/p>\n

G: That\u2019s great to hear! When the journey was gathering traction, you started getting recognised. What was that recognition like, and what was it like being willed on by so many people?<\/span><\/p>\n

E: Being willed on was good, and I\u2019m glad that we had the support and traction that we needed to raise some money. However, I did not like being in the limelight and I still get recognised to this day. People say, \u201cYou\u2019re the boy who cycled to Germany!\u201d I was working, and some people came in and said, \u201cI saw you on TV.\u201d I was like, \u201cYep, yes you did!\u201d It\u2019s a strange feeling, I would never have thought this day would come.<\/span><\/p>\n

G: What was your experience with grassroots football in Aberdeenshire?<\/span><\/p>\n

E: So, I played for Huntly Development and got loaned out to Islavale. Playing there was brilliant, so was Huntly Development. It\u2019s everything you could have asked for, especially up here. In the central belt the football is probably better, and you\u2019ve got more options. But up here, that\u2019s probably the best route, it\u2019s good.<\/span><\/p>\n

G: How have you found coaching?<\/span><\/p>\n

E: I would say it has had its ups and downs, as most seasons will. What frustrates me the most is when the players can\u2019t do certain things that I can do still, and I can\u2019t play! I\u2019ve got to just respect it and carry on, even though it\u2019s frustrating.<\/span><\/p>\n

G: Surely Alex Ferguson telling you to coach was a good motivator?<\/span><\/p>\n

E: I don\u2019t quite think you can top it, to be honest. I\u2019ve been told to coach by the greatest!<\/span><\/p>\n

G: How are you feeling about Scottish football this season?<\/span><\/p>\n

E: I think we have a good team in the qualifiers, so I think we can get something out of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whilst on a football scholarship in America, promising Aberdeenshire-based sportsman Ethan Walker tragically sustained catastrophic injuries in a car accident. After an incredible recovery, he undertook a cycle from Hampden to Munich aiming to arrive in time for Scotland\u2019s opening match of Euro 2024. Alongside his knee surgeon Gordon Mackay, Scotland fan Stephen Collie, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":97,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","iawp_total_views":21,"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[254,1465,1468,1464,1469,1467,381,1466],"wf_post_folders":[175],"class_list":["post-6264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-sport","tag-aberdeen","tag-ethan-walker","tag-films","tag-make-it-to-munich","tag-movie","tag-north-east","tag-scotland","tag-sport"],"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Cameron Collie","author_link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/author\/cameron-collie\/"},"featured_img":null,"coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Sports<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Sports<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Aberdeen<\/a>","Ethan Walker<\/a>","Films<\/a>","Make it to Munich<\/a>","Movie<\/a>","North east<\/a>","Scotland<\/a>","Sport<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Aberdeen<\/span>","Ethan Walker<\/span>","Films<\/span>","Make it to Munich<\/span>","Movie<\/span>","North east<\/span>","Scotland<\/span>","Sport<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 11 months ago","modified":"Updated 11 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 22 October 2025","modified":"Updated on 22 October 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 22 October 2025 15:46","modified":"Updated on 22 October 2025 15:49"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/97"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6264"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6269,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6264\/revisions\/6269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6264"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=6264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}