After a period as an apprentice at Manchester United he was released and returned to his native Scotland with Third Lanark as a semi-pro where he struggled to see much first team action, instead joining Corby Town.
[2] During his time at Wolves, Curran was selected to represent the Scotland national team; making his debut on 5 November 1969 in a 2–0 World Cup qualifying loss in Austria.
After three seasons, in which he featured more than 50 times for the Burnden Park club, Curran returned to Oxford United in 1977, where he remained until retiring due to injury in 1979.
He then entered the licensing trade, running four pubs, all of which were called The Red Lion; three in Oxfordshire (Marston, Horton-cum-Studley and Islip) and one in London.
After six months of retirement in 2005, Curran was "bored to tears" and decided to get a job as a supervisor at Oxford's Thornhill park-and-ride service.