Ex-Chesterfield, Bradford City, Grimsby Town, Buxton and Alfreton boss is appointed at Matlock

The 62-year-old was most recently head of recruitment at Premier League club Burnley.

Previously, in a playing career scanning 16 years from 1981 when he was with Arsenal for two years, the uncompromising defender made 530 first team appearances in the Football League with approximately two thirds of these games being for Barnsley, Rotherham United and Chesterfield.

His management career began with the Spireites, taking over from John Duncan in the spring of 2000, and although he arrived too late to prevent Chesterfield from dropping out of what was then Division Two, he masterminded a successful return during the following season in spite of Chesterfield being handed a nine-point deduction due to alleged financial irregularities.

Law then managed Bradford City and Grimsby Town before joining Buxton in 2004, winning the Northern Counties East League title in 2005/06 and then the NPL First Division title in 2006/07, before in May 2007 he was appointed as Alfreton Town manager. Under Law’s guidance, the Reds won the Conference North in 2010/11 to reach the top tier of non-league football.

Law says that Matlock’s close link with the local community impressed him when he met the club’s officials.

“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,” said Law, who added that the short-term goal was to improve on Matlock’s disappointing 15th placed finish.

He said: ”I firstly need to speak with the lads already here but we need to improve on last year and try to build as 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.”.

Law will announce his supporting team within the next few weeks.

Acting chairman Martin Harrison, who led the recruitment process, says Law’s hunger to build a team that would challenge in the NPL Premier Division and above were huge factors in deciding he was the man to take over the managerial reins.

He said: “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.”