Former Chesterfield defender Ian Evatt appointed head coach at Bolton Wanderers

The 38-year-old, who led Barrow to the National League title this season, has signed a contract until the end of the 2022/23 season.

His assistant at Barrow, Peter Atherton, has moved with him.

Bolton, who were relegated from League One this campaign, were looking for a new manager after Keith Hill left folowing the expiration of his contract at the end of June.

On being appointed, Evatt said: “Bolton Wanderers is a fantastic football club with an incredible history and fanbase and this is a really exciting opportunity for us all.

“Hopefully I can bring a brand and an identity that people will enjoy watching – attacking and scoring goals is what we all want to see.

“We want to be challenging and competing for promotion at the top of the division and to see a packed University of Bolton Stadium.

“The community and town is also very important to me. We will get out there and engage with them and make them proud of Bolton Wanderers.”

Barrow confirmed Evatt asked to leave and that as part of the agreement Bolton cannot approach any of their players for transfer in the next two years.

Barrow chairman, Paul Hornby, said: ‘It’s always disappointing when someone decides to move on especially when they’ve had such a positive impact. Ian did a wonderful job over the time he was here and he leaves us with a blueprint and identity of how we want our team to play and a great group of players.”