It meant firstly that he could hardly have escaped the bug, secondly, that by the time he had competed his education at rugby-playing Glasgow Academy he not only knew the oval-ball game but had maintained his involvement with the round-ball by joining not nearby Queen's Park or Third Lanark but truly local, Pollokshields Athletic and, thirdly, that when at sixteen he represented Glasgow against Edinburgh he did so from his lesser, home club. Indeed it was a club, a team that he was to remain loyal for essentially eight seasons even as it foundered and in 1888 amalgamated with Battlefield and from which in 1885 he turned down the opportunity of a cap, was reserve for two more and finally in 1886 made his only international start, albeit against England.

That is not to say that he was not admired by other clubs and, as an amateur, could not on occasions appear for them. Indeed again at sixteen he won the Glasgow Charity Cup with the Hampden club and two years later in 1885 he was part of again The Spiders eleven that reached and lost the FA Cup Final for a second and last time.