Preston signed for
Heart of Midlothian from
Bathgate F.C. shortly before the outbreak of the
First World War. In November 1914 he was among the Hearts players who volunteered to join
Sir George McCrae's new
battalion of the Royal Scots. Military service took him away from Edinburgh for five years, so it was 1919 before he made his debut for Hearts in the
Scottish League First Division. He remained with the club until the
1922–23 season. Preston then came to England to play for
Torquay United, then a
Southern League club, and moved on to
Third Division South club
Plymouth Argyle in 1923. He made 147 appearances for the club in all competitions. His last game for Argyle came at the end of the 1927–28 season, and he returned to Torquay United, by then a Football League team, for the following season. ==Personal life==