He would stay at Love Street for four seasons forming so good a partnership with Tom Jackson that in 1904 the pair was called up for international duty, the first of two caps he would gain. And it was that first cap that prompted struggling Blackburn Rovers to come in for him. In 1902-3 it had finished just a place above relegation. In 1903-4 it was two. In 1904-5 with him on-board it had recovered to thirteenth and in 1905-6 to ninth but he was gradually dropped and in 1907 sold to Chelsea, newly promoted to the First Division. 

He would move to London with his new bride, Blackburn-girl, Elizabeth Astley. They married in 1906, would have two children in the capital, where at Stamford Bridge, he would stay for six campaigns. In that time there would be a second cap in 1909, a poor performance against and bad loss to England, relegation in 1910, captaining to re-promotion in 1912, before being released at the age of thirty-four. But he did not hang up the boots just yet. Instead he dropped down to the Central League at Port Vale in Stoke-on-Trent, at the end of The Great War managing for a year.