 A Welsh schoolboy international, Curtis was playing amateur football with Cardiff Corinthians, also working as an electrician, when he signed for Cardiff City in 1926, winning both the FA Cup and Welsh Cup in his first season.The following year, Curtis also played in the 1927 FA Charity Shield on 12 October 1927 before moving to Birmingham soon after.He returned to Cardiff in 1933 but soon found himself in a dispute with the club over wages and retired from football for a short while before returning in 1935 to play for Coventry City.