Betts was an amateur association footballer and cricketer. His most notable moment came when he scored the only goal in the 1872 FA Cup Final for Wanderers, the first final of the tournament. The goal was a relatively simple 'tap-in', coming as a result of Walpole Vidal's successful dribble through the Royal Engineers' defence. In the match, he played under the pseudonym AH Chequer; Betts played for Harrow Chequers, a team associated with the school, who had been drawn to played Royal Engineers in the first round of the tournament but failed to fulfil the fixture.