Gainsborough Trinity Condemns Hoaxer Impersonating Manager

Gainsborough Trinity have condemned a hoaxer who has been posing as their manager and approaching players with bogus transfer and wage offers.

The Northern Premier League Premier Division side say an individual has contacted “a number of players” at various levels of the non-league game while falsely claiming to represent the club and boss Russ Wilcox.

Chief executive Matt Boles moved quickly to distance Trinity and Wilcox from the approaches, stressing that none of the messages had anything to do with them.

He said he wanted to make it “categorically clear” that any communication over potential deals had not come from Wilcox or anyone acting on Gainsborough’s behalf.

“We strongly condemn the actions of the individual responsible,” he said. “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 started contacting Wilcox directly, suspicious about the tone and content of the messages they believed were from him.

That was the giveaway.

“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 club’s stance hardened. Boles delivered a blunt warning to the person behind the hoax.

“Enough is enough,” he said. “Stop impersonating our manager, stop wasting the time of players and clubs across the non-league game and, quite frankly, get a life.”

Gainsborough, who reached the FA Cup second round in 2024-25 and the first round the previous season under Wilcox, have reported the incidents to both the Northern Premier League and the Football Association.

Wilcox, appointed in 2023, arrived with solid EFL experience after managerial spells at Scunthorpe United and York City, following a playing career that took in Northampton Town, Hull City, Doncaster Rovers, Preston North End and Scunthorpe.

Now his name is at the centre of a very different story – one the club are determined to shut down before it causes deeper damage to a non-league community built on trust and reputation.