The 55-year-old former Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest midfielder made 594 appearances at club level whilst winning 18 caps at international level for England under Graham Taylor.

Palmer also took the reigns as player-manager at Stockport County before a spell in charge at Mansfield Town between 2004 and 2005.

Grantham chairman Darren Ashton told https://www.granthamtownfc.com: “It’s fantastic news. We’ve been working on getting Carlton in for a while now and been in constant contact with him almost daily.

“He’s eager to get started with us. He’s been offered roles at Football League clubs, but he likes the idea that the club has.

“He likes what we have proposed, and we like his ideas he has moving forward and has bought into the plan and is joining for the long-term."

Matt Chatfield and James Colliver also join the club's coaching staff.

Both have been working hard alongside Palmer behind the scenes to prepare for the new season and Ashton praised the efforts of all: “It’s already been there for a while bubbling away in the background” he said.

“We’ve got Jas doing the recruitment for new players whilst Matt has been using his contacts at Nottingham Forest to help sort out some opportunities for us as well as doing the recruitment too."

“It’s been a massive re-structure at the club and they’re going about it differently. We’re not just chucking daft money at big-name players, they need to fit no matter how much they cost, they’ve got to fit this style of play and ethos."

“They’re coming to watch the under-23s on Saturday to get a feel for knowing what they’re about as well and they are really working well to get ready for the new season”.