New Alfreton Town boss keen to see progress

McDermott joins the Reds with immediate effect after leaving his position as Director of Football with Cleethorpes Town.

He said: “I am so happy to be at the Reds, I can’t wait to get started on such an exciting project. I have always wanted to be number one, most of my coaching career I have been at number two which has been great as I have built up years of experience as an assistant and it’s a great time to step up for me.

“I want to thank everyone at Cleethorpes Town for a fantastic experience there, we had a great season this season and getting to Wembley was fantastic.

“I had a brief chat with Wayne Bradley about the way forward and the ambition at the club and it ticked every box for me.

“It was a no brainer, we want to head higher and aim higher and I want to help that happen.

“I always loved coming to Alfreton, it’s such a great club, it’s well run and I’m very excited to be a part of this club and helping to move us forward.”

With the Reds welcoming new investment from Lee Mullen who also joins the board, McDermortt is thrilled with the preparations at the Reds.

“Having John already here was a big draw for me also, he’s a very close friend and he is someone to turn to if I need him.

“Wayne has been excellent for Alfreton also, he has a great reputation and it’s the perfect combination for me to have both of them here, we have ambition, we want to progress. We will start to build the squad and prepare ourselves, it’s an exciting time for the fans, we have new investment into the club and it’s time for us to start challenging again.”

“With added investment we can start to build our squad and get Alfreton challenging again and trying to push ourselves back into the Conference Premier for a start.

“It’s exciting times and I can’t wait to get started, we have high expectations for this season and I am delighted to be here.”

As a player, he was a right-back from 1987 to 2007, spending his entire 20-year playing career at Grimsby Town, and holds the club’s all-time appearance record, having played 647 league games, 754 games overall for the Mariners.

He is one of only 17 players in the history of English football to play more than 600 Football League matches for a single club.

After retiring from football in April 2007, McDermott began coaching at the Grimsby Institute Academy before being appointed assistant manager at Harrogate Town in 2010.