Pilatos now lives a short walk from Boro's Rockliffe Park training headquarters, where he has lived for the last few years after joining Middlesbrough's Academy when he was just ten.
He is 17 now and looks back on the days when he was scouted by Ron Bone's recruitment team playing for Sunderland Sunday League team Newbottle with great affection.
It was those times which laid the foundations for what he has achieved in the last month.
Middlesbrough manager Gordon Strachan rates him highly, illustrated by the fouryear contract Pilatos has signed having become a regular in the first-team squad last season.
He might not have figured in the Championship, but Strachan has included him on the bench and there is every chance the midfielder will make his full debut next season.
That would cap a memorable 2010 for the promising African-born talent.
It's been the best time of my life so far, said Pilatos.
I'm delighted to sign the contract. I grew up at this club and I want to make my professional debut at this club.
I haven't had one-to-ones with the manager, I'm just happy that he's seeing what I can do and obviously believes in me.
Everyone at the Academy has helped me progress, along with some of the teachers at school who supported me, and my mum and dad have been there for me all the way along.
The Pilatos family initially settled in Houghton-le-Spring after moving from Angola seven years ago, where his talent had only been unearthed through playing with his friends.
I had only played football with my mates back in Angola,
he said. Then I started to play in school when I came to England. I played a couple of years above myself for the school, then I joined Newbottle at the age of nine.
Since then the progress he has made has been impressive.
Throughout his time with Middlesbrough since 2003, Pilatos' ability has caught the eye of his coaches at every level. Powerful and a force from midfield, he has bee playing for England since his school days.
But to have formed part of an England team that won a major trophy at representative level for the first time since 1993, Pilatos' career has been given the perfect start.
He played the entire 90 minutes of England's 2-1 win over Spain in the final, while his Middlesbrough team-mates Luke Williams, from Teesville, and Ben Gibson, from Nunthorpe, were also unused substitutes that afternoon in Liechtenstein.
I just hope the success carries on the way it has and hopefully gets even better,
said Pilatos, who also won the Nordic Cup with England Under-16s and the Algarve Cup earlier this year.
I'm going to try to push for a first-team start next season, that's my main goal this year.
I've enjoyed the good experience of being involved in the first-team squad, and that meant a lot to be considered, but now I want to play for the first team.
It was just great to win the tournament, I can't really describe it. It's a great achievement for me and the England squad. The tournament went really well. In some of the games we didn't play as well as we could but we still won, and that's ultimately what matters.
Despite being regarded as a strong-running and toughtackling midfielder at club level, Pilatos was one of the European Championships' most impressive attacking full-backs.
He said: I'll play both but I enjoy playing full back for England because I get to join in with the attacks. It's a challenge because you get to play against very good players on the wing. At the same time, though, I enjoy midfield because you are involved in the game a lot more, and that's what I want.
I started up front when I was very young, then moved into midfield and filled in at centre-back at under-16 level for Middlesbrough. I've actually only played once or twice for Boro at full-back.
But I feel playing in all those positions has helped my game move on. It has given me a view and understanding of how to play in certain positions and understand the challenges.
Chris Killen is a doubt for New Zealand's final warm-up match for the World Cup. The Boro striker is struggling with a calf problem and might not be risked against Slovenia in Maribor today.
Boro will travel to Germany at the end of July to play two pre-season friendly fixtures.
Gordon Strachan's side will take on Sachsen Leipzip on Wednesday, July 28, before playing Union Berlin on July 31, a week before the season kicks-off. Leipzig were recently relegated into Germany's fifth division. The game will be played at their Zentralstadion, one of 12 venues for the 2006 World Cup and the only one in former East Germany.
Source: Northern Echo
Source: Northern Echo