Steve Kirkham is the new manager of Grantham Town with Paul Rawden taking over as chairman

Manager Paul Rawden has stepped down from his role with Grantham Town to take over as chairman of the Gingerbreads.

Rawden will fill the current vacant post in the boardroom of the Northern Premier League East Division Club.

Steve Kirkham will take on the management position of the first team who currently find themselves in the bottom two of the table.

In a club statement, Rawden said: "When the call came to help in the summer, it was always my intention to not continue in the dug-out for too long. It was vital to implement a plan and I feel stage one is now ready to hand over to Steve.

"He has some great ideas and that desire required to do well for the football club.

"He has been with me since the start of pre-season and he knows I will be here to help him achieve our goals which is firstly survival at the level we are currently at.

"It is a time consuming role as a manager and one in which needs some backing in a different form which I can now implement."

Rawden will take over his new role from interim chair Sophie Cope.

She commented: "I'm delighted to have Paul on board and taking over as chairman.

"It’s something we have spoken about on numerous occasions.

"He has a lot of contacts in football and has a business background and shares the vision of the current board in helping the club to become self sustainable in the long term and has the time and dedication needed to take on the responsibility of leading this football club forward."

Grantham’s crunch clash at bottom-of-the-table Sheffield FC was postponed on Saturday due to a frozen pitch. They are due to visit Dunston on Tuesday night.