Joseph Peebles was a major figure in Queensland soccer after the war. After playing for Thistle, he became the president of Norman Park FC until they became defunct, moving on to become secretary of Latrobe-Milton FC. In 1936 he was elected to be secretary of the Queensland Soccer Council, and later became treasurer, secretary and finally president of the successor body, the Queensland Soccer Football Association.
His playing career was overshadowed by his brothers James and John, who both captained Queensland before the war, with John going on to earn a Socceroo cap in 1923. It is unclear whether Jos Peebles played before the war: he was the youngest brother by six years, being 21 when he enlisted, while the newspapers of the time often listed “J. Peebles” in soccer reports making a distinction between the three brothers difficult.
Peebles enlisted in December 1915, the second of the brothers to enlist in a three-month period. He arrived in Europe in early 1916 and was later assigned to the Australian Division Base Depot at Etaples. In January 1917 he was transferred to the 4th Field Ambulance. Peebles was evacuated to England in March 1918 with trench fever and would not return to France. A chemist by trade, he was instead assigned to be a Ship’s Dispenser on the troopship HMAT Port Macquarie, a position he retained until mid-1919.