Ex-Bolton Wanderers star David Wheater on kids coaching gig

Though he refuses to completely rule out pulling on his boots again at the age of 36, the former Wanderers centre-back is now putting his full focus on a new junior coaching venture near his home in the North East.

Along with ex-York City star Stuart Wise, Wheater has launched the W2 Football Academy for boys and girls aged five to 11, and with the venture only a month old, is already seeing the project thrive.

“I’m not officially retired – I mean, I don’t want to say at I retired even though I know my legs and my body can’t handle it anymore,” Wheater tells The Bolton News.

“Coaching is probably the route I am going down now and I’m really enjoying it.

“On the side of the coaching we have my son’s little team and you can see that even when they lose, they are just happy to be playing the game. I have taken him places where they are trying to do the same stuff we did at Bolton – I look at him and know he is not enjoying it.

Mark Beevers and David Wheater (Image: Camerasport)

“I don’t want any standing still, I want them doing quick shooting drills, running with the ball, not much waiting about. We have only had three or four sessions and the parents have said the kids loved it and we had built some confidence up in them.

“We just want them to have fun. If we started doing Over-11s then maybe we start talking a few tactics but for now, that’s what we want.”

It is all a far throw from Wheater’s first foray into coaching, in his days at Lostock, as he and ex-Bolton midfielder Josh Vela began their coaching badges by assisting with sessions at the Academy.

“It does get easier but I got told by loads of people that you just have to keep doing it,” he said.

“I still can’t see myself in a first team role, trying to keep all the men happy and that, because I know how moody we can get when we’re not playing.

“Five to 11-year-olds, that’s good for me and my mate – they start getting a bit mouthy after that, don’t they? We have two lads who come down and they are both a handful anyway.”

Ideally, Wheater would like to diversify and bring some of his coaching sessions back to a town he still feels is a second home.

Back in Bolton to watch his first two professional clubs do battle in the Carabao Cup, he will also visit the Lion of Vienna Suite tonight to speak with hospitality guests.

David Wheater and Adam Le Fondre (Image: Camerasport)

But could he envisage the W2 Football Academy getting a Bolton branch?

“We would love to bring the coaching sessions here – I said before that there are probably more people in Bolton who remember me playing than there are in Middlesbrough,” he said.

“The travelling is something to think about, but we do one once a week in Marske, where we live, and then another on a Saturday morning. Why can’t we come over once a week?”

Tonight’s game is a tough one to call for the former defender, who enjoyed such success with Boro after coming through the club’s ranks from the age of seven but spent longer at Wanderers in a career played in three different divisions.

“I don’t mind who wins, honestly,” he said. “I live up there so I’ll have to answer to them and people ask me on Twitter who I am supporting but I’m not too fussed. I was here longer, too!

“Boro haven’t started well. They have lost some good players with (Chuba) Akpom going and (Aaron) Ramsey went back and they haven’t really signed the quality to match.”

Pressed for a prediction, he added: “I’ll have to go Boro, then, because they need it more.”