Lancaster City stalwart: Time was right to leave

The Dolly Blues revealed this month that a clause in the tough-tackling midfielder’s contract would not be activated this summer and the 30-year-old was free to leave.

The decision was mutually agreed with Wills admitting the travelling commitments required to play for the Dolly Blues was becoming too much.

A Southport lad who still lives in his hometown, Wills revealed the one-and-a-half hour’s drive north just to attend training was beginning to take its toll on his body.

"I think especially this year, the travelling has got to me a bit – it’s particularly had an effect on my body.

"I was spending too long in the car and I am 30 now, my body is aging a little bit.

"I would be turning up for training and it would be a real struggle to get going.

"It would be taking half-an-hour before I would be loose and feel comfortable running

"This season it just came to a head for me. I thought if I want to carry on playing at this level then I need to find a new club nearer to where I live.”

While his head told him that this summer was the moment to end his long association with the club, his heart was pulling in a different direction.

Wills has been a key figure at Giant Axe – barring a gap in the middle when he went to play in Australia – since making his debut while still a pupil at Myerscough College.

He was part of the title-winning squad which claimed the NPL First Division North crown in 2017 and also helped the team win the Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy in 2021.