[2] Wells made his debut for Richmond against St Kilda in Round 1 of the 1912 VFL season, at the Junction Oval.
[3] Cleared from Richmond to Fitzroy on 16 April 1913,[4] he played 15 games, and kicked 6 goals, over two seasons (1913 and 1914), becoming a premiership player for Fitzroy in the 1913 VFL Grand Final, under the captaincy of Bill Walker (the coach was Percy Parratt).
On 24 April 1915, Wells was cleared from Fitzroy to Northcote in the Victorian Football Association (VFA).
[6] The 1915 VFA competition was shortened to only 13 matches due to World War I (the last home-and-away round was on 17 July 1915).
A truncated competition was conducted in 1918, with only six teams involved (including Northcote) and only 10 home-and-away matches before the finals.