while a serving soldier, he played for the army xi in inter-service competition, as well as in friendly matches against club sides and against other countries' military teams. in 1923, he was selected for an army xi that took on aston villa; although his team lost heavily, the "manchester guardian" wrote that "macey was the 'star' of the army team. he has a real gift for the game, trapping the ball like a master, feeding his wings well, and generally revealing unmistakable 'class' in all he does." they did, however, question whether his lack of height might make him better suited to wing- rather than centre-forward play. a few months later, he scored twice and set up a third as the army xi beat the french army in paris by three goals to one, as part of an international triangular tournament.