Former Burnley recruitment man and Chesterfield boss appointed manager of Northern Premier League club

The 62-year-old, whose most recent role was head of recruitment at Burnley, made more than 100 appearances for the Spireites as a player between 1993 and 1996 before leading them to promotion as manager from Division Three in 2001.

Law said: “I’m delighted to be manager of a well-established club in Matlock; I find the community aspect and the close link with the fans very refreshing and it really impressed me.

”I firstly need to speak with the lads already here but we need to improve on last year and try to build a squad that will compete at a better level.

“In the medium to long-term we need to develop a squad that is younger and is sustainable for the club but that can be up there challenging for honours. People talk about styles of play but the main objective has to be to win games of football, the more you win the better off you are.

“I’ll be looking for the players to always give 100 per cent. Honesty is a big thing for me, people come and spend their hard-earned cash and expect to see 100 per cent effort from the players as a bare minimum.

“For now I’ll be looking at what we’ve got, who stays and who goes. Part of management is making tough decisions.”

As well as Chesterfield, defender Law also played for Barnsley and Rotherham United and has had success as a manager at Buxton and Alfreton, where he was at for 10 years.

Acting chairman, Martin Harrison, added: “We’re pleased and excited to name Nicky as our new manager. His motivation to succeed in management again, added to his experience and understanding of what it’ll take to rebuild the team, were all key factors in our decision in selecting Nicky.”

Chesterfield play Matlock in a pre-season friendly on July 6.