Born in Adelaide, South Australia, in 1872, Watts moved to Fremantle, Western Australia, in the 1890s, representing both the Imperials Football Club, and a number of Fremantle representative cricket teams which played against touring Victorian and Australian sides.
[3] Watts played for the cricket club for over thirty years, and as late as the 1927–28 season, when he took a five-wicket haul against North Fremantle at the age of 55, with help from a sticky wicket.
He played his final game, against Subiaco on 5 August 1916, at the age of 44 years and 49 days, making him the oldest person to play senior football in the West Australian Football League (WAFL).
After retiring from the Railway Workshops, Watts invented and patented a number of track devices, including for a universal movement switch.
[9] Two of his granddaughters later married Laurie Bandy and Ted Tyson, both noted sportsmen during the 1930s and 1940s.