Leonard Edward Wills (8 November 1927 – September 2010) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Life and career

Born in Hackney, London, Wills first played for the youth teams of non-league

Eton Manor Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre is a sports and leisure venue located in Leyton, London Borough of Waltham Forest, to the north of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. It is regularly used for international field hockey fixtures by both the Great ...

, before being signed by

in October 1949. For the next four years he played in Arsenal's reserve team, playing either at right half or

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. In October 1953, Arsenal's regular right back, Joe Wade, damaged his knee, and Wills promptly stepped up to replace him, making his debut against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

on 10 October 1953 – Arsenal won 4–1. Wills played so well that he replaced Wade for the rest of that season, playing 30 matches, and another 24 in 1954–55. However, Arsenal signed Stan Charlton in November 1955 and he displaced Wills out of the Arsenal first team. Wills became a bit-part player for the next couple of seasons, deputising for Charlton at right back or Dennis Evans at left back. After Charlton left the club in 1958, Wills regained the right back position, and became a regular in the side for the next three seasons, but by 1961 his age was starting to count against him. Youngsters

Dave Bacuzzi David Reno Bacuzzi (12 October 1940 – 21 April 2020) was an English footballer and manager who played for Arsenal, Manchester City and Reading. He also represented England as a youth international. After a moderately successful career in the ...

and

Eddie Magill Edward James Magill (known as Eddie or Ted as well as Jimmy) (born 7 May 1939 in Lurgan) is a Northern Irish former footballer. Magill began his career with Portadown but moved to London club Arsenal in May 1959. He made his debut for the sid ...

shared the right-back spot during 1961–62, with Wills not getting a single game. He left the club on a free transfer at the end of that season, signing for

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

. In all he played 208 games for Arsenal in League and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

, scoring 4 goals. He never won a major trophy at Arsenal (arriving in the first team just after the 1952–53 title triumph), but did play in their

1953 FA Charity Shield The 1953 Football Association Charity Shield was the 29th FA Charity Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Football League First Division and FA Cup competitions. It was held at Highbury Stadium on ...

win over

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

. After retiring from playing, Wills left the game completely and had a second career in the DIY retail trade. Wills died in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

in September 2010 at the age of 82.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wills, Len 1927 births 2010 deaths Footballers from the London Borough of Hackney English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Eton Manor F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Romford F.C. players English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen