In 1891, he was working as a licensed victualler, and was also listed as operating a pub in 1898, when he married Ada James Worthington, a schoolteacher.

[11] Valentine began playing rugby at a very young age, being only nine years old when he joined the second team of Brindle Heath Lads Club.

[11] A club favourite, he led Swinton with a 16–8 victory over local rivals Salford in their first Northern Union Challenge Cup Final in 1900, at Fallowfield in Manchester.

Valentine was killed when he, his wife and her sister were struck by lightning while on holiday in Barmouth in Wales on 25 July 1904.

[15] According to one report, Valentine, his wife and his two sisters-in-law were walking on a hill overlooking Barmouth and Cardigan Bay in mid-afternoon when they were suddenly caught in the storm.

The first lightning strike lit the gorse-covered hill on fire, and then a second bolt struck Valentine, his wife and her sister Nellie Worthington.

His tackling was about his strongest point, and for his club and county he possessed a wonderful record as a try-getter.

[14] Thousands of people lined the road to witness the cortège as his body was taken from his house in Pendleton to the churchyard in Pendlebury.