Gainsborough Trinity Condemn Fake Manager Targeting Players
Gainsborough Trinity have issued a fierce condemnation after discovering an individual has been posing as their manager and approaching players with bogus transfer and wage offers.
The Northern Premier League Premier Division side, who operate in the seventh tier of English football, revealed that the impersonator has contacted “a number of players” across several levels of the non-league game.
Chief executive Matt Boles moved quickly to distance both the club and boss Russ Wilcox from the approaches, stressing that none of the messages came from Trinity.
He said he wanted to make it “categorically clear” that any communication over potential deals had not been sent by Wilcox or on Gainsborough’s behalf.
“We strongly condemn the actions of the individual responsible,” Boles said on the club’s website. “Impersonating a football manager and making false representations to players is completely unacceptable and has the potential to cause unnecessary disruption and reputational damage to players, managers and clubs.”
The scam only came to light when managers and officials at other clubs went straight to the source. They contacted Wilcox directly, unconvinced the tone or method matched the experienced coach.
“Many have done so precisely because they know Russ, know the professional standards by which he conducts himself, and immediately recognised that this is not the manner in which he would approach or attempt to recruit a player,” Boles explained.
Once the pattern emerged, the patience at the Northolme snapped.
“Enough is enough,” Boles said in a blunt message to the culprit. “Stop impersonating our manager, stop wasting the time of players and clubs across the non-league game and, quite frankly, get a life.”
Gainsborough have reported the incidents to both the Northern Premier League and the Football Association, underlining how seriously they view the situation.
Wilcox, appointed in 2023 after previous managerial spells at Scunthorpe United and York City, has helped re-energise the club. Under his watch, Trinity reached the FA Cup first round last season and went one better in 2024-25, making it through to the second round.
His own playing career took him to Northampton Town, Hull City, Doncaster Rovers, Preston North End and Scunthorpe, a background that has earned him respect across the game.
That reputation now sits at the heart of the club’s anger: a non-league side fighting hard on the pitch, forced to defend its name against someone hiding behind a false one.
