At nineteen he was cutting coal himself and, a right-back with a tackle, seems to have had a slow-ish start in the game. From eighteen he first played locally before at not quite twenty-one and not with particular success in 1893 joining Dunfermline,, Athletic or Juniors is unclear, but outwith the League. He stayed two seasons before a move to nearby Cowdenbeath for a few months, from where at now twenty-two he quickly took the next step. He was signed by Hearts, would stay seven years and in that time win the Scottish Cup in 1901 and in 1902 a single cap. 

However, he seems to have been a little injury prone and in 1893, albeit already thirty, was lent out to East Fife, the newly-formed Methil club, captaining at Bayview in the Fife League for the first half of that first season before retiring from the game for good but not, it seems, from the pit. Moreover, by 1905 the decision had been taken also to move on. He and his wife, Rachel Wright originally from Wishaw, who he had married in 1901 in Edinburgh before moving to Kinross, plus elder brother, also Francis, headed for Fernie in Canada's British Columbia. Coal-mining had begun there in 1897 and was pulling in labour from all parts.