Former Chesterfield and Wigan Athletic boss back in management at League One club

The 40-year-old has been appointed ‘first-team manager’ at League One Exeter City.

He has signed a ‘long-term’ contract, the Grecians said.

Exeter beat Fleetwood Town 2-1 on Saturday to go eighth in the table, just three points off the play-offs, after winning promotion last season.

The former Scotland defender was sacked by the Spiretes in September 2017 after just eight months in charge. He was let go after failing to stop them getting relegated from League One and then they found themselves in the League Two relegation zone after the first 10 games of the following season.

As well as Chesterfield, Caldwell has managed Wigan Athletic, Partick Thistle and has most recently been assistant boss at Hibernian.

Nick Hawker, chair of Exeter City Supporters’ Trust, and Julian Tagg, club president, said in a joint statement: “As a supporter-owned club, Exeter City is unique and it was vitally important that we chose the right person to continue our journey. The club is in a strong position, having been promoted to League One and made a great start to the campaign, which sees us in eighth position in the table. Gary brings a great deal of experience to our club and we’re excited and optimistic for the future.”

“We would also like to put on record our thanks to interim manager Kevin Nicholson and Jon Hill for stepping in to manage the team over the last couple of weeks.”