[5] After a chance meeting with Brentford director and former referee Frank Barton,[4] Curtis was appointed manager of the Third Division South club in April 1926 and signed a 12-month contract.

[9] Curtis officially took up the role in May 1926 and his debut season saw a run to the fifth round of the FA Cup, which yielded enough money to build a grandstand on the Braemar Road side of Griffin Park.

[11] Curtis and recently appointed assistant manager Jimmy Bain guided Brentford to fifth and two successive sixth-place finishes in the club's first three seasons in the First Division.

[9] Crowds at Griffin Park averaged 25,000 and in the 1937–38 season and Brentford led the First Division table for three months and reached the sixth round of the FA Cup for the first time.

[4][7] Brentford's sustained period of success was consolidated by Curtis' man-management abilities and his astuteness in the transfer market,[12] bringing in Scottish internationals Dave McCulloch, Bobby Reid and Duncan McKenzie, Welsh internationals Idris Hopkins and Les Boulter, with Billy Scott and Les Smith going on to represent England.

[11] Football League competition resumed in 1946 and with an ageing squad,[13] Curtis' Brentford were relegated to the Second Division at the end of the 1946–47 season.

[2][17] In mid-January 1950, Curtis was appointed secretary-manager of Southern League club Tonbridge and commenced work on 1 February 1950.

[18][19][20][21] Interference from the club's board in team selection led to Curtis resigning his position on 5 November 1952, but he continued in the role until the end of the year.