EX-WANDERERS midfielder Steve Thompson has been installed as the new head of recruitment at National League Oldham Athletic.

The former Burnden Park midfielder made 422 appearances for Bolton after coming through the youth ranks in the early eighties, scoring 53 goals.

Since retiring in 2002 he has amassed an extensive coaching career with the likes of Preston North End, Huddersfield Town, Blackpool and Leeds United.

Oldham-born Thompson has now been drafted on to the staff at Boundary Park to help new boss David Unsworth build a squad capable of getting back into the Football League.

“We’ve just brought in a head of recruitment, which is wonderful. That’s a step in the right direction which will help me massively because I’ve never taken as many calls from agents in all my career,” Unsworth told The Oldham Times.

“That will be both our jobs but it takes the load off me.

"Steve has got an unbelievably knowledge of players and a vast range of contacts within the game.

"I'm delighted with the recruitment structure we've now got in place, not just with Steve but with a number of talented and quality scouts we've got to work alongside him across the country.

"I'd like to thank the board for allowing me to have the structure in place. It allows me the opportunity to spread our net even wider and we'll work very closely over the coming years."

And Thompson, who as a player played for Bolton, Leicester and Rotherham, spoke of his long-standing links with his hometown club.

"My Dad and Grandad played for Latics and I'm from Shaw, so I'm delighted to be here," he said.

"There are some great staff here who are putting in the work to get Latics back to where we should be.

"We've got to make sure we get the right players in, ideally ones who we can develop and become sellable assets. If not, it'll be loan signings who will have an instant impact.

"As well as being a good player they've got to be a nice person too, with the right attitude for the dressing room."

Unsworth added: "Recruitment is everything in football and is an area we've really needed to focus on. We've done a lot of good work in improving the coaching and the environment around the club, and it's vital that we have now done the same with recruitment.

"We've started to bring in new players, we aim to bring in a lot more, and this structure is all about working towards us getting promoted."