 Upon signing, he was given a job as a boilermaker at the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath, and paid £4 per week during the season and £2 per week in summer.After signing, he made three friendly appearances as an inside right in March 1893, before suffering a dislocated elbow in the third game against Ardwick.He finally made his competitive debut for Newton Heath in the first game of the 1893–94 Football League season on 2 September 1893, starting at inside right in a 3–2 win over Burnley.