Gainsborough Trinity Condemns Hoaxer Impersonating Manager
Gainsborough Trinity have condemned a hoaxer posing as their manager and approaching players with fake transfer and wage offers across non-league football.
The Northern Premier League Premier Division side say an individual has contacted “a number of players” at various levels of the non-league pyramid while falsely claiming to represent boss Russ Wilcox.
Club CEO Matt Boles moved quickly to distance both Wilcox and Gainsborough from the bogus approaches, stressing that none of the messages came from the club.
He said he wanted to make it “categorically clear” that any communication about potential deals had not come from Wilcox or anyone acting on his behalf.
On the club’s website, Boles did not hold back.
“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 alarm was raised when managers and officials at other clubs went straight to the source. They contacted Wilcox directly, suspecting something was wrong with the tone and content of the offers being circulated in his name.
According to Boles, that reaction spoke volumes about Wilcox’s standing in the game.
“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,” he said.
Once the pattern became clear, the message from Gainsborough hardened. Boles issued 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 matter to both the Northern Premier League and the Football Association.
Wilcox, appointed in 2023, arrived at the club with solid Football League experience from the dugout after previous managerial spells at Scunthorpe United and York City. As a player, he turned out for Northampton Town, Hull City, Doncaster Rovers, Preston North End and Scunthorpe.
For a club fighting to build something on and off the pitch, protecting that reputation now looks every bit as important as the next result.
