He set himself up as a street-cleaning contractor in Partick but got into financial difficulties and in October 1878, his two horses and his equipment, including a street-sweeping machine, were sold off at a public warrant sale.
In summer 1878 he joined Lancashire club Darwen, arriving before fellow Partick player Fergus Suter.
He was an integral part of the team that season, with the club playing a benefit match for Love and Suter in April 1879.
Early the next season he played three times for Darwen, but after the defeat of Haslingden in the Lancashire Cup on 25 October, he disappeared from the team.
The only other noted appearance was in what is thought to be his final football match, on 10 January 1880 for the village side in Haslingden.