[1] He lied about his age and joined the British Army in 1906 and served during the First World War, where he was wounded on three occasions and gassed while fighting in France.

Green's career began to rise during the late 1920s and reached its peak during the 1930s, when he became the first British national and Olympic 50 km racewalking champion.

He continued his success through the mid-1930s, but placed fourth at the 1936 National Championships and was thus unable to compete in that year's Summer Olympic Games.

His continuing success through 1931 and 1932 earned him a trip to the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, where he won a gold medal in the first ever men's 50 km walk at the Games.

He contested fewer races in 1933 and 1934, but he set his sights on making an appearance at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin and resumed his heavy regimen of training in 1935.

[4] Green retired from competitive athletics after 1936 and, having lost a thumb in an industrial accident at Eastleigh Railway Works in 1934, took up a career as a publican.