Former Wigan Athletic and Celtic player appointed manager at League One rivals of Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley

The Grecians were promoted last year under the stewardship of Matt Taylor, who departed to take charge of second-tier Rotherham United earlier this month.

Former Scotland international defender Caldwell, 40, has now been chosen as his replacement, with Exeter currently eighth in the table following Saturday’s last-gasp win over Fleetwood.

“As a supporter-owned club, Exeter City is unique and it was vitally important that we chose the right person to continue our journey,” a joint statement from club president Julian Tagg and chair of Exeter City Supporters’ Trust Nick Hawker read.

“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.”

Caldwell takes over at St James Park having most recently worked as assistant at Hibernian, his previous managerial roles taking him to Wigan, Chesterfield and Partick Thistle. He also worked as an interim boss with Newcastle United’s Under-23s.

On becoming the Exeter boss, Caldwell said: "It feels amazing, to be honest. When the job became available it was something I was really interested in because of the club's history and the time that managers get given here is something that is unique.

"I've spent most of my games as a manager in this division. I understand this league and how difficult it is - there is such a wide range of clubs - but it is a very competitive and with the right organisation and structure and work ethic, then you can achieve success in this league.

"I've been very lucky in my career that the clubs I've been at and the people I've worked with have been fantastic, and that's the thing for me, you can never achieve success on your own, you need good people around you and you need toegtherness."

Exeter beat Barnsley at Oakwell earlier this month following Taylor’s departure with the clubs set to meet again in Devon on January 7. Sheffield Wednesday travel to Exeter on December 10.