Born in Plumstead, London, Lewis played for Eltham and then Maidstone United as a youth, before signing for Woolwich Arsenal in May 1907.

For the next two seasons Lewis featured regularly, playing the majority of Woolwich Arsenal's matches.

By now, Lewis mainly played as a supporting striker; this combined with Arsenal's poor attacking form meant he scored relatively few goals for the club.

He faithfully stayed with the club (which in the meantime had moved to Highbury and renamed themselves "The Arsenal"), as they battled for promotion from the Second Division.

The arrival of World War I robbed Lewis of the peak of his career; although he played in some wartime matches, by the time peace had broken out and Arsenal had returned to Division One in 1919, he was 33.