The 37 year old has just retired from professional football after leaving Colchester United at the end of his contract, and has made over 600 professional appearances including long spells at Bristol City and Ipswich Town.

This will be Cole's first step into management following his professional retirement and he will take charge of the club heading into the new 2023-23 Isthmian League season which kicks off in early August.

Cole told the club "I am really looking to forward to joining Bury Town and meeting the players and staff. Having left Colchester United at the end of my contract I am now ready to start my first job in management and excited to get started. The planning for the new season starts now and I will be speaking to all the current players in the coming weeks and we will also be sitting down to identify new targets. I look forward to meeting all the supporters at the pre-season friendlies"

Bury Town chairman Russell Ward said "After a long process we are delighted that Cole has accepted our offer to become our new manager. This will be Cole's first managerial appointment and I know that he is keen to get started and we look forward to working with him. There is a lot of potential here and the Board feel that appointing someone with the professional experience that Cole has will benefit the whole club"

Director Alan Lee added "This has been a long appointment process but I am very pleased with the outcome. I know Cole is excited to get started in management and in my view this is a great place for him to start. I know our supporters will be excited ahead of the new season. From our initial discussions I knew that he was the right fit for the job here and we are ready to support him fully to help achieve success for the club in the coming years"

A new assistant manager will be appointed in the next few days and an announcement made soon. The club would like to thank Alex Rossis for his time at the club and stepping in to take charge of the side for the final part of last season, achieving some impressive results and we wish him good luck with his future career.