There is even a case that, had he remained in the Vale, he might have been a shoe-in at right half for Vale of Leven but, whilst ties must have remained strong, his football education was Glaswegian. By 1871, so before football arrived outside the city, the whole family had moved to Dennistoun. He is said to have picked up the game at Glasgow Green, less than a mile from his home, Eastern being formed in 1872 but not lasting long. It dissolved by 1877 by when he had moved on to South Glasgow to be joined at the original Cathkin Park by younger brother, James, also born in  the Vale.   

However, having married Isabella Maxwell in 1876 and with six of what would be nine children in 1892 he took the family across the water to Belfast, never to return. Living in and around the city he continued to work as an engraver until retirement with no obvious involvement in the local game. His wife would die in 1931 but he would live on into his nineties, passing away in December 1944 in the City Hospital to be buried in the City Cemetery in a known but so far unmarked plot. Perhaps that might change?