 After battling for a first team place with Willie Brown, he began the following season as a first choice, missing only a handful of games before moving to Manchester City in March 1930.He played 42 league games for the Maine Road side, appearing on the losing side in the 1933 FA Cup final, but was never a first team regular and moved to Charlton Athletic in June 1935 and qualified as an FA Coach, making only 15 appearances as Charlton rose through the divisions prior to the onset of World War Two.He guested for Torquay United, Aldershot and Bristol City during the war, serving in the Army Physical Training Corps.