FORMER Premier League defender David Wheater has re-joined Darlington on a permanent deal after recovering from a back injury.
The 35-year-old former Bolton Wanderers and Middlesbrough centre-back has been training with the Quakers for a number of weeks to improve his fitness but has now agreed a deal to stay with the National League North club.
Wheater spent three months on loan at Darlington, from Middlesbrough, in January 2007, making 16 appearances for the club, scoring twice, including one on his home debut against Peterborough United.
He returned to Boro at the end of his loan spell and went on to make 157 appearances for them in the Premier League and the Championship, before moving to Bolton in January 2011 for an undisclosed fee.
He then on went to make 236 appearances for the Trotters in the Premiership, Championship and League One – helping them win promotion to the Championship – before joining Oldham in August 2019, playing 34 matches, scoring four times.
He left Oldham in March 2021 after a spell out with injury sustained by lifting his dog.
Armstrong told The Northern Echo: “I’ve known Dave for a long time and I nearly signed him in the summer, but he said he didn’t want to come in and then be injured. So that’s credit to him, he wanted to get the op done first and then have a chat.
“Danny has been doing work with him and we’ll see where it takes us.
“He had the op November time, he’s only a couple of months post-op, it was a bulging disc in his back, so the timescale it usually three months before you can play competitively. He’s kept himself in decent shape and if he can get back playing that would be great.”
