Gainsborough Trinity have condemned an individual who approached players with transfer and wage offers while falsely claiming to be the club’s manager.
The Northern Premier League Premier Division club, which competes in the seventh tier of English football, said the person had contacted “a number of players” at various levels of the non-league pyramid.
Chief executive Matt Boles said it was important to make “categorically clear” that the communications about potential deals did not come from manager Russ Wilcox or anyone acting on the club’s behalf.
“We strongly condemn the actions of the individual responsible,” Boles said on the Gainsborough Trinity 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.”
Gainsborough discovered the bogus approaches after managers and officials from other clubs contacted Wilcox directly because they suspected he was not responsible for the messages.
“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 said.
Boles also delivered a blunt warning to whoever was 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 following season under Wilcox, have reported the incidents to the Northern Premier League and the Football Association.
Wilcox joined the club in 2023 after previously managing Scunthorpe United and York City.
During his playing career, he represented Northampton Town, Hull City, Doncaster Rovers, Preston North End and Scunthorpe United.
