At an early age, Robert, the second son of James and Janet Bruce, a foreman at a blast furnace, lived at Old Mews, in the parish of Logie, Stirlingshire.
He played 16 full matches in 1917–18 season as well as winning a medal in the Glasgow Charity Cup at Hampden Park won by Celtic.
That April he left for Alloa Athletic for one season, and then joined Kirkintilloch Rob Roy, a club named after the Jacobite Highland hero.
Nelson were enjoying a golden period in their history: promoted to the newly-formed Northern Section of the Third Division, joining the Football League for the first time.
Their team included George Wilson, a former international out of Sheffield Wednesday, as gate receipts reached a new high, when they met Accrington Stanley at Seedhill on 15 October 1921.