'Get a life' - non-league club condemn man impersonating manager

Ben Ashton, sources England and Gemma Dawson, broadcaster East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Updated 23 minutes ago A non-league club have condemned a person who has been approaching players to make transfer and wage offers while falsely claiming to be their manager. Gainsborough Trinity, who play in the Northern Premier League Premier Division - in the seventh tier of English football - say the individual has contacted "a number of players" across different levels of the non-league pyramid. Chief executive Matt Boles said he wanted to make it "categorically clear" communication over potential deals had not been from manager Russ Wilcox or on behalf of the club. "We strongly condemn the actions of the individual responsible," he said on the Gainsborough club 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." Boles said Gainsborough became aware of the bogus approaches when managers, players and officials at other clubs contacted Wilcox directly, suspecting he was not behind the phone calls and messages. sources understands an agent also reached out to Wilcox to share their suspicions after the imposter offered them an excessively high transfer fee for a player. "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. 'Just pack it in' Wilcox told broadcaster Lincolnshire he does not know why anyone would behave this way. "I don't want my reputation tarnished," he said. "I've been in the game 40-plus years and I've never had anything like this before." Boles also issued a strong message to the person responsible for 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 first round last season under Wilcox, have made the Northern Premier League and Football Association aware of the incidents. By making the issue public, Boles said he hoped the individual responsible would "grow up and go away". "It's quite serious. If we were speaking directly to a player, it's an illegal approach, it's tapping up and the club can get in trouble with the FA and the leagues," he told broadcaster Lincolnshire. "More importantly for Russ, it's his reputation that's been dragged through the dirt. "I don't get what [anyone] would achieve out of it. Just pack it in." Wilcox has been with the club since 2023 following previous managerial spells at Scunthorpe United and York City. He featured for Northampton Town, Hull City, Doncaster Rovers, Preston North End and Scunthorpe during his playing days. More on this story