McDermott, who made a record number of appearances for the Blundell Park side, was installed at Wetherby Road in a part-time capacity this week.

An attempt by Town to secure the services of ex-Bradford Park Avenue boss John Deacey as assistant fell through last month after he failed to obtain assurances about his role from owner Bill Fotherby.

The chairman said he was impressed by McDermott, who has coached at Grimsby Institute Academy for the last three years.

“He’s a very capable man,” Fotherby said.

“I have great admiration for our manager, but the only thing is that he wasn’t experienced in management.

“He learned a lot last season and he will be able to learn a lot from John, who is one of the best coaches in non-league football.

“We have been fortunate to get hold of him.”

Fotherby told the Harrogate Advertiser that McDermott would oversee youth development at Town and act as a scout, as well as performing coaching duties.

“This is a big job for him,” Fotherby said.

“He has superb credentials and the thing that really stood out was his tremendous loyalty to Grimsby and his experience as a professional player.”

The new assistant explained how his appointment had come about.

“I’ve known Simon Weaver for a long time, since he came over to Grimsby as a player, and he was aware I was keen to go into management,” McDermott said.

“He rang me up just as I was finishing my UEFA ‘A’ licence in coaching and told me about the job.

“It was a chance for me and I was grateful to Mr Fotherby for giving me an interview.

“When I got the call asking me to accept the job, I said ‘yes’ straight away.”

McDermott, who has won a PFA merit award for services to football, said he knew as soon as he entered the Wetherby Road ground that it was the right role for him.

“I knew straight away, I just have a feel for the place,” he said.

“I had it years ago when I first went into Grimsby as a kid.”

He said he was confident that Town could mount a promotion push, saying: “Obviously Simon has signed a lot of good players and our ambition is to have a go, to be a contender.

“I am excited about it.

“We will be organised both with and without the ball and get the players to know each other’s jobs.

“We want to play football, but we will play it at the right times.”

McDermott brings with him a host of ideas about the structure and training regime of the team, having won trophies and developed a half-dozen youngsters for professional clubs while at the Grimsby academy, where he will continue his duties part-time.

Town’s pre-season training kicked off yesterday, with Fotherby saying the new-look squad can make “a big impression” in the league.

McDermott said he hopes it can be the start of something special.

“Hopefully we will do well this time around,” he said.

“This is a good family club.

“We want to put on good football, but winning football.