The former Tottenham, Arsenal and England central defender has his first job in management having previously been an unsuccessful applicant for vacant positions at Oxford United, Grimsby and Oldham.

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Macclesfield are bottom of the Football League, despite Saturday’s 1-0 win over Yeovil Town, and are currently seven points from safety. The club has been without a manager since Mark Yates was sacked on 8 October after failing to win any of their first 12 league games. Danny Whittaker, the veteran midfielder, has since been acting as caretaker boss alongside former Silkmen player Neil Howarth.

Having led the club to promotion from the National League last season, long-serving manager John Askey chose to move on to League One Shrewsbury, who sacked him on 12 November.

Instead of what would have been a popular return for Askey, the Cheshire club have turned to Campbell, who has been working with England Under-21s as part of the Football Association’s ‘In Pursuit of Progress’ initiative, which offers BAME coaches experience in the national team set up. He also had a brief spell as assistant manager of Trinidad and Tobago.

After speaking at the Cambridge University Union on Monday night, Campbell posted a social media image of himself on a train on Tuesday morning which said: “Football moves fast! My work started 2 years ago. #manager #business.”

Campbell, who won 73 England caps, retired in 2012 after leaving Newcastle the previous year and has been taking his FA coaching badges.