Willie was a signing of Jock Wallace and in the 1980 close season he was invited on a City tour of Germany and Holland, he impressed enough to get a full deal and was thrown straight into the starting eleven for the first game of that season.
A left-back, he remained first-choice in his position for half of that season as City struggled against the drop on their return to the top-flight. He lost that spot midway through the season, however, and he was back-up in the next campaign.
It prompted him to move away from Leicester and he had to drop out of league football to get his first-team chance, with Nuneaton Borough. He then stayed at Weymouth for ten years as a player and went on to be caretaker boss for a spell.