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 ...

who played in the Football League for Arsenal.

Life and career

Born in Hackney,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, 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 Arsenal 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 outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. 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 Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

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 and Eddie Magill 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 town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romfo ...

. 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 knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

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

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

retail trade. Wills died in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

in September 2010 at the age of 82.

References

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