Middlesbrough defender Wheater eyeing an England jackpot

His admission last season that he took a trip to the local hall in Redcar on a Sunday morning after a bacon buttie at his grandad’s caused endless ribbing.

‘It’s all I get from drunk old men. They think it’s funny.

Down to earth: David Wheater is desperate to break into the England set-up

'They were coming up to me in pubs and giving me a hard time.

'It was a nightmare.

'Make sure you put it in that I don’t go to the bingo. I just went once or twice.’

His bingo partner was girlfriend Stacey.

The pair met three years ago when she worked in an ice cream shop — ‘Did I use the footballer thing?

'Not likely, I was in the reserves and I think I had a Punto.’

She was mistakenly called a bingo caller as a result of his story.

‘It made her sound like a 50-year-old.  She wasn’t happy.’

Yet Wheater is still smiling. He never stops.

Right now, Teesside’s genial giant has good reason.

When his mobile phone beeped in March, the call had come from England, capping a remarkable period in his life.

Wheater had ended 2006 at Darlington on loan with grave doubts about his future.

Twelve months later he had blossomed into one of the most talked about central defenders in the Barclays Premier League.

The FA text was still a surprise, informing him that Fabio Capello wanted him to join an England training squad.

‘I phoned Mam and Dad and Stacey. They started crying.

'It was an amazing moment. It was totally weird when I met up with the squad.

‘I was shaking hands with David Beckham and Rio Ferdinand and I was like, “Whoa!”

'I was training with them for 10 days. It was a massive test.’

Was he nervous?

‘Not at all, I never get nervous, ever.

'I don’t know what it is about me. I’ve always been the same.’

spotted him when he was a seven-year-old right winger.

‘Bryan Robson came down one day. Everyone was wearing Manchester United tops. I had one with Cantona on the back.

'There wasn’t a Middlesbrough strip there.

'He changed that.

Wheater towers over new Spurs midfielder David Bentley in Boro's 2-1 victory last weekend

'He said he wanted us to look like a proper academy.’ Wheater was moved to centre forward and then centre half.

It was never easy — a loan spell at Wolves was his nadir.

‘I played one game. Mick McCarthy was in charge and he didn’t play me again.

'It was the worst part of my career.

‘I was walking to my car at 10 past three on a Saturday outside Molineux and I could hear the crowd.

'I thought: “What am I doing?” I had a three-and-a-half hour drive home.

'I questioned being a footballer. I wasn’t going anywhere.’

The penny had finally dropped.

Wheater admits he acted the fool too much between 13 and 16.

‘It was just daft stuff and it didn’t do me any favours.’

Dave Penney, for whom he played on loan at Doncaster, transformed his career.

'Wheater thought his time with Boro was over but, when Gareth Southgate was bereft of central defenders at the start of last season, Wheater stepped up and has never looked back.

‘I knew it was my chance. I knew I might not get another one.

'I couldn’t mess around any more. I had to do everything to make sure I couldn’t be left out.’

His form allowed Southgate to sell Jonathan Woodgate to .

‘The manager told me that after he had sold him. It was a massive boost.’

Others were similarly impressed, none more than , still seeking a player with the presence to replace Sami Hyypia.

‘I didn’t want to go anywhere but to be linked with them was fantastic,’ says Wheater.

‘Most people would want to play for Liverpool or any of the top four in their career. It was a big confidence boost.

'Most players do move but right now there is no place I’d rather be.’

The 21-year-old signed his new deal last February and was — eventually — allowed to buy a new watch.

‘The jeweller had been into the training ground a few times and I had seen the one I wanted.

'I rang my dad and asked if I could I get the watch and he said no.

'He keeps me right.

‘My whole family do. They won’t let me get carried away.

'It’s good to have a close family. I still go to my grandad’s for butties, but I’ve got the watch now and I’m very happy with it.

'Mind, it’s not my dad’s style.’

Wheater has been linked with a move to Barclays Premier League giants Liverpool

Wheater does not hesitate when he is asked to go outside to stand against an old storage barn for a photograph.

He is standing among the grass cutters and mechanical diggers that keep Middlesbrough’s training ground in shape.

In front of him is the club’s £10million Rockliffe facility, built a decade ago.

To his left is the club’s latest project, a huge £ 50m development that will create a hotel and Europe’s longest golf course.

Wheater is getting soaked but there are no complaints. ‘I hope none of the lads see me on the way in to training,’ he laughs.

‘I’ll get slaughtered.’

There is genuine surprise at what has happened in a year.

‘I knew I was a decent footballer but it’s just been amazing.

‘I want to get back into the England squad. That is the aim now. My honesty gets me in trouble sometimes but that’s who I am.

'I’m just a young lad from a small town. I’m very down to earth. I just don’t go to bingo every Sunday.’