Background
Wheeler was born in Bilston, near Wolverhampton and started his professional career with Walsall in the Football League Third Division North, for whom he scored three goals in eleven league appearances.
Wheeler was born in Bilston, near Wolverhampton and started his professional career with Walsall in the Football League Third Division North, for whom he scored three goals in eleven league appearances.
After a spell in the Cheshire County League with Mossley, Wheeler joined Brentford, before joining Northampton Town for the 1933-1934 season, in which he made five appearances, scoring once. In July 1934, he joined Southampton of the Second Division, making his debut playing at inside-left at home to Portuguese Vale on 27 August. He was in and out of the side for most of the season, with Arthur Holt the preferred inside-left.
In November 1934, Wheeler played three matches at centre-forward in place of Norman Cole, scoring an "outstanding" hat-trick in the first 27 minutes of a 4–1 victory over Bradford City.
A lack of consistency led to him being dropped in favour of new signing, Walter Pollard, and Wheeler was transfer listed at the end of the season. In August 1935, he joined Barnsley for a fee of £100, and in October he moved on to Norwich City, but he never played first-team football for either club
In the summer of 1936, he joined his final league club, Gillingham, making a further eight league appearances, scoring three goals.