Lloyd Doyley decided to join Kings Langley after missing playing football.

The popular former Watford defender signed for the Southern League Premier Central club last night and could make his debut in tomorrow’s trip to Banbury United where Dean Barker’s side will be aiming to continue their unbeaten start to the campaign.

Doyley has been without a club since leaving Billericay last season and admitted he didn’t know if he would continue playing, but revealed he has chosen to join a club who have been interested in securing his services for some time.

“I left Billericay and Darren (Kings Langley director of football Darren Eliot) and Dean gave me a call in the summer asking if I’d be interested in coming down,” Doyley explained after signing. “I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. I’m not getting any younger, I’m 36 now, but I decided to give them a call to see if they were still interested.”

He continued: “I wasn’t sure [about continuing to play] but over the last few weeks I’ve missed it. I’ve been keeping fit anyway with thinking I might still play this year. Now I’ve definitely decided to play and signed for Kings Langley.

“It’s practically my local team, so it is convenient at the same time, but they’ve showed interest in me in the last couple of years so I’ve taken them up on it.”

With almost 450 first-time Hornets appearances under his belt, Doyley will bring a wealth of experience to the Langley dressing room, but Barker was impressed with his attitude when the pair discussed the move earlier this week.

The Kings boss said: “I was really impressed with what he had to say on Tuesday about fighting for his place in the team and wanting to be the same as everyone else and that’s how we’ll treat him.

“He’s no different, he’s a Kings Langley player now and he’ll get the same respect as everyone else, but he’ll bring great experience to the changing room and even for things like training it should benefit the group, so it’s a win-win for everyone.”

Kings had been due to play their first home game of the season on Monday against Hitchin Town, but it was postponed earlier today due to player safety concerns following pitch renovation works.