[2][3] An outside right, Curley began his career in the youth system at Portsmouth in 1960, but suffered with homesickness and transferred to Celtic in his home city after just a few months.
[3][6] He failed to make a breakthrough into the first team during the 1965–66 season and made just 14 appearances as the Bees suffered relegation to the Fourth Division.
[7] He broke into the team on a regular basis in the following season and made 33 appearances and scored seven goals, as Alex pushed for a second successive promotion.
[9] Curley had a spell as chairman of Central Scottish Amateur League Premier Division club Bankhall Villa.
[11] He resigned from the Scottish Labour Party in October 2016 and became an independent councillor, not standing for re-election in the 2017 North Lanarkshire Council election.