A lath renders by trade, Francis Chick was playing local-league football for Croydon Common when he was spotted by ex-Saint, Billy Ponting, and brought to The Dell for a trial run-out in the Western League. Although he initially shaped up well on debut, he seemed eventual to be overcome by the importance to him of the match. A second chance at this level, two months on, rather confirmed that he was not up to it and he returned to Croydon.