he spent 15 years in the army, and was a prisoner of war for almost the entirety of the first world war. while still a serving soldier, in 1923, he joined kingstonian f.c. he signed amateur forms with football league club plymouth argyle, but played only one competitive match for them before returning to kingstonian, for whom he played until retiring from the game in 1936. during that time, he captained the club to victory in the 1933 amateur cup, was capped four times for the england amateur xi, and scored twice in each match as the amateurs beat the professionals 6–1 in the 1925 fa charity shield and 6–3 in the 1926 match.