Lincoln United have appointed veteran player Terry Fleming as their new manager after John Wilkinson opted to take a new role ‘upstairs’ at the club.

Wilkinson, who will become director of football at the Whites, had tipped Fleming to replace him as manager previously.

In a statement on the Lincoln United website, Wilkinson said: “This change will make the management team stronger. I will bring twenty years experience at this level to my role and in Terry we have one of the brightest football brains I have ever come across.”

“He always talked about management and now he has the chance in a known environment. I hope it works out for him and I firmly believe he will be a first class manager.”

Marston Green-born Fleming, 38, made over 400 appearances in the Football League, for clubs including Cambridge United and Grimsby Town, before signing for United in late 2008.

However he will be most remembered for his time across the city at Sincil Bank. The central midfielder-cum-full back made over 200 appearances for the Imps in the late nineties, scoring eight goals.

Wilkinson, who admits he has suffered from ‘overwork’ recently, has spent 16 of the last 20 seasons at Lincoln United in one role or another and now looks set to continue that astonishing statistic.

The Whites are currently in 13th position in the Evo-Stik First Division South in a safe mid-table position despite a recent run of inconsistent results – the latest being a 2-1 reversal at home to Belper Town.

Fleming’s reign will begin with a trip to playoff chasers Rushall Olympic on Saturday.