The new signing, who joined the Spireites from Huddersfield, was given the armband this week by manager Lee Richardson.

Page (33) has made 42 appearances for Wales and has played more than 470 senior games.

He has captained most sides he has played for including one outing as skipper of the Welsh team.

The central defender began his career with Watford and after a loan spell with Shefield United moved to Bramall Lane for £350,000 in 2001.

A brief stint at Cardiff was followed by a move to Coventry and Richardson made a move for Page when he fell down the pecking order at the Ricoh Arena.

But instead he switched to Huddersfield Town and made an inspirational start with the West Yorkshire club.

The Terriers were on a slippery slope but in his first four games, Huddersfield chalked up four wins and did not concede a goal.

Page agreed to move to Chesterfield after the end of last season and was Richardson's first summer signing. He will wear the No5 shirt
His vast experience, in terms of games and as a captain, made him the obvious choice to be Richardson's leader of men on the pitch.

He takes over the armband from midfielder Peter Leven who moved to MK Dons after they were promoted as League One champions.

The Spireites kicked off last season with central defender Aaron Downes as skipper, but he was stripped of the captaincy midway through after a string of disappointing performances.

Richardson is still searching for a new first-choice keeper after Barry Roche moved to Morecambe two weeks ago on a free transfer after being released from his Chesterfield contract.

There have been hints that Richardson might try to secure a keeper from a Premiership or Championship club on a season-long loan.

Such a move would allow the host club to have one of its keepers playing regular league football while the Blues would know they were bringing in a player of a good pedigree. There could also be a financial advantage for the Blues as the host club may agree to continue to pay a proportion of the player's salary.

Richardson is also still wanting to sign a big forward to replace Steve Fletcher who has joined Crawley Town.

Meanwhile, chairman Barrie Hubbard has said the number of parties aiming to take control of the football club had reduced from three to two.

Hubbard was speaking in the wake of Chesterfield Borough Council's unanimous decision to grant planning permission for a new stadium at the former Demaglass site at Whittington Moor.

The club is facing a shortfall of around £5m for the 10,500-capacity ground and the chairman said he was unable to reveal to supporters the identity of who he was in negotiations with.

''They will have to wait a bit longer to find out everything. They will have to try and trust us.

''Not a brick will be laid until the funding is in place. If funding is not in place, it will not be built,'' said the chairman.

Although the council has given the thumbs-up to the project, which also includes a new Tesco superstore, it has to gain approval from the Government before any building work can begin.

Premilinary work, such as the diversion of a major sewer and a power cable, may start sooner.

If all goes well, the building of the new ground could begin in January.

Chesterfield have completed the signing of former Oldham Athletic, Shrewsbury Town and Gretna defender Danny Hall (24) on a one-year deal.