Gainsborough Trinity Condemns Impostor Making Fake Transfer Offers
Gainsborough Trinity have condemned an impostor posing as their manager and approaching players with fake transfer and wage offers across non-league football.
The Northern Premier League Premier Division side, in the seventh tier of the English pyramid, say the 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.
Club CEO Matt Boles moved quickly to distance Trinity from the approaches and the person behind them, stressing that neither Wilcox nor the club had any involvement.
He said he wanted to make it “categorically clear” that any communication over potential deals had not come from 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 started contacting Wilcox directly, suspicious about the tone and nature of the messages being sent in his name.
Boles explained that those who reached out did so because they knew Wilcox personally and immediately sensed something was wrong.
“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 of bogus approaches became clear, the club’s stance 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 have reported the matter to both the Northern Premier League and the Football Association, underlining the seriousness with which they are treating the issue in a tight-knit non-league community where word travels fast and reputations can be damaged just as quickly.
The incident comes at a time when Trinity have been carving out a respectable cup profile under Wilcox. They reached the FA Cup second round in 2024-25 and the first round the previous season, achievements that have raised the club’s profile beyond the seventh tier.
Wilcox, appointed in 2023, brought with him experience from the Football League 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, building the kind of reputation that makes his name carry weight in non-league circles.
That standing is precisely what the club believes has been exploited. Now, with the league and FA alerted, Gainsborough want the impersonation stopped and the message clear: if Russ Wilcox wants to sign a player, everyone will know it is really him.
