George Willis was born in County Durham in 1926 and joined Wolverhampton Wanderers in January 1945, having worked as a miner on leaving school.
He guested for Port Vale and Crewe Alexandra in 1946. In February 1948, he moved on to Brighton & Hove Albion, who struggled at the foot of the Third Division South table in the 1947-48 campaign, before rising to sixth place in 1948-49. He scored 13 goals in 28 league games for the Seagulls before leaving the Goldstone Ground for Plymouth Argyle in May 1949.
The “Pilgrims” suffered relegation out of the Second Division in 1949-50. Argyle finished fourth in the Third Division South in 1950-51, before winning promotion as the division’s champions in 1951-52. The club then came to within two places of promotion to the First Division in 1952-53, before dropping down to within two places of relegation in 1953-54. Plymouth finished just one place and three points above the drop zone in 1954-55 before suffering relegation in 1955-56.
George scored 14 goals in 59 league appearances for the club. He joined Exeter City in March 1956. He spent the 1956-57 season at Exeter before a spell in the Western League with Taunton Town. He also had a spell with Falmouth Town in the South Western League in the 1958–59 season, and was a South Western League Cup winner in his only season with the club.