 Wheeler played club football for Carlton, Tranmere Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Liverpool and New Brighton.Wheeler played for Bolton Wanderers in the 1953 FA Cup Final at Wembley on 2 May 1953 in which Bolton lost 4–3 to Blackpool.He gained his only England cap in 1954 when Walter Winterbottom selected him to play in a British Home Championship match against Northern Ireland at Windsor Park, Belfast.