AMIDST his triumphs on the tennis court, Woosnam was still playing football, having already turned out for Chelsea in 1919. In 1920, he signed as an amateur for Manchester City (though quite capable of turning professional), paying the bills with a job at local engineering firm Crossley. Unusually, the club’s professionals chose the amateur Max as their captain, and he led them to second place in the top flight in the 1920–21 season.
After Max was left out of an FA Cup tie against Leicester and his team slumped to a three-nil defeat, the fans rounded on Crossley’s, who responded by sternly reminding Max that soccer must come before work. A rock-like centre half, Woosnam played ninety-six games for City and captained England to a one-nil victory against Wales in 1922.
Woosnam retired from soccer in 1926, to concentrate on a new career with ICI. He took up snooker, and is said to have compiled at least one maximum break.*
That is, a total clearance of all fifteen reds (each with a black) and all six colours, scoring 147 points. In 2014, former world champion Shaun Murphy became the first person to make three maximums in a calendar year during competition.