When the First World War put a temporary halt to his football career, he volunteered for the Lanarkshire Yeomanry.
Ayr's board of directors agreed to keep him on half pay for the duration of his military service.
[11] The following season, he won his second and last cap for Scotland, in a 1–0 win against England at Villa Park, Birmingham.
He set up Bradford's goal in the 1931 FA Cup Final, but this was not enough to give his side victory.
[11] After finishing with football, he returned to Scotland and settled in Ayr,[7] where he died in February 1982 aged 86.