 | |||
| Full name | Gainsborough Trinity Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Trinity, The Holy Blues | ||
| Founded | 1873 | ||
| Ground | The Northolme,Gainsborough | ||
| Capacity | 4,340 (504 seated)[1] | ||
| Chairman | Dave Horsley & John Myskiw | ||
| Manager | Russ Wilcox | ||
| League | Northern Premier League Premier Division | ||
| 2024–25 | Northern Premier League Premier Division, 7th of 22 | ||
| Website | www | ||
Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is afootball club based inGainsborough,Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of theFootball League in 1893 and remained members of theSecond Division until 1912, making Gainsborough one of the smallest towns in England to have had a Football League team.[citation needed] They are currently members of theNorthern Premier League Premier Division, the seventh tier of English football, and play atthe Northolme.
The club was established in 1873 as Trinity Recreationists by the ReverendGeorge Langton Hodgkinson, vicar of Holy Trinity parish, Gainsborough.[2] In 1889 the club were founder members of theMidland League, which they won in 1890–91.[3] The club finished as runners-up the following season and again in 1895–96, after which they applied for election to the Football League. In the vote they finished third, ahead of existing membersPort Vale andCrewe Alexandra, and were elected into the Second Division.[4] The club'sfirst season in Division Two of the League saw them finish seventh, but a gradual decline in form saw them finish in the bottom half of the table every season until 1904. In1901–02 Trinity finished bottom of the division, but were re-elected.[5] In1904–05 the club finished sixth in Division Two, their best performance during their Football League membership.[3]
In1911–12 Gainsborough finished bottom of the Second Division for a second time, and failed to be re-elected, receiving just nine votes to the 27 received by newly electedLincoln City.[6] The club returned to the Midland League, finishing third in 1912–13 and second in 1913–14,[3] after which they unsuccessfully applied for readmission to the Football League.[6] When the Football League created a newThird Division North in 1921, Trinity applied for membership, but were again unsuccessful.[7] The club won the Midland League title in 1927–28, and thefollowing season defeated Football League opposition in the FA Cup for the first time since losing their League status, beating Crewe 3–1 in the first round, before losing toChesterfield in the second round.[3] In1931–32 they beat Crewe again in the first round, before losing 5–2 at home toWatford. In1937–38 Trinity beat Port Vale in the first round, before losing to fellow non-League clubYeovil & Petters United.[3] Another Football League team was beaten thefollowing season, when Trinity knocked outGateshead in the first round, before losing toDoncaster Rovers.[3]
FollowingWorld War II Gainsborough had further success in theFA Cup, reaching the first round of the FA Cup in1945–46, losing toMansfield Town, and in1946–47, when they were beaten byDarlington. In1948–49 they reached the second round after defeatingWitton Albion in the first round, before losing 4–3 atWalsall. They went on to win a third Midland League title that season. First round appearances in the FA Cup followed in1950–51 (losing 3–0 toPlymouth) and1951–52 (losing to Witton), before the1952–53 season saw another second round appearance; after beatingNetherfield in a first round replay, they lost 2–1 atNewport County. They reached the first round again the following season, before losing 4–1 at home toChesterfield. The club failed to repeat the feat until1959–60, when they lost toDoncaster Rovers in a replay.
At the end of the 1959–60 season, the Midland League was disbanded. Gainsborough spent a single season playing in both theCentral Alliance and Division Two of theYorkshire League,[8][3] before returning to a reformed Midland League in 1961. Trinity won their fourth Midland League title in 1966–67, also reaching the first round of the FA Cup (losing 1–0 at home toColchester United), before becoming founder members of the newNorthern Premier League in 1968. The club applied to join the Football League again in 1975 and 1976, but received only a single vote on each occasion.[6] The1983–84 season saw them reach the first round of the FA Cup for the first time in over a decade, as they lost 2–0 at home toBlackpool.
When the Northern Premier League added a second division in 1987, Gainsborough were placed in the Premier Division. In1997–98 FA Cup saw them drawn against local rivalsLincoln City, who after a 1–1 draw lost 3–2 in a 'home' replay that was played at Lincoln'sSincil Bank.[3] Another first round appearance in2003–04 ended with a 7–1 defeat atBrentford.[3] At the end of the season a tenth-place finish saw the club become founder members of theConference North.[3] FA Cup first round appearances followed in2006–07 (a 3–1 defeat byBarnet) and2007–08 (a 6–0 loss at home toHartlepool United). In2011–12 the club finished fourth, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. However, after beatingFC Halifax Town in the semi-finals, Trinity lost the final 1–0 toNuneaton Town. During the 2012–13 season they reached the semi-finals of theFA Trophy and managed to beatWrexham 2–1 at home but would lose 4–3 on aggregate.[9][3] In another FA Cup first round appearance in2015–16, the club were beaten 1–0 byShrewsbury Town.[3] The club were relegated for the first time in their history at the end of the2017–18 season, dropping into the Northern Premier League's Premier Division.
Gainsborough finished fourth in the Premier Division in2022–23, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. They subsequently lost 5–3 on penalties toBamber Bridge in the semi-finals after a 1–1 draw. In2024–25 the club reached the second round of the FA Cup for the first time since the 1950s after beatingHednesford Town on penalties (after a 4–4 draw) in the first round.[10] They lost 1–0 atHarrogate Town in the second round which was televised onBBC Two.
Trinity moved tothe Northolme ground, then also a cricket venue, in 1884.[11] During their time in the Football League the club also played home matches at theBowling Green Ground in the north-west of the town andSincil Bank inLincoln when the Northolme was being used for cricket.[11] The record attendance of 9,760 was set for a Midland League match against local rivalsScunthorpe United in 1948.[2]
Gainsborough Trinity's location on the bank of theRiver Trent pits them against a host of clubs fromLincolnshire andNottinghamshire. The most noted local derbies for Gainsborough are againstBoston United andWorksop Town, as both clubs have spent numerous seasons in both theNorthern Premier League andConference North divisions with Trinity. Games with Boston or Worksop are traditionally played onBoxing Day andNew Year's Day.
Professional clubs in traditional Lincolnshire such asLincoln City,Scunthorpe United andGrimsby Town have rarely played Trinity outside of pre-season tournaments such as theLincolnshire Senior Cup. The last competitive match between Trinity and a professional Lincolnshire club was when they playedLincoln City in the first round of theFA Cup in the 1996–97 season, with Trinity eventually losing 3–2 in the replay following a 1–1 draw atSincil Bank.
As of 14 November 2023[12]
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Chairman | Dave Horsley |
| President | Steve Summers |
| Director | Darren Ashley |
| Club Secretary | Matt Boles |
| Manager | Russ Wilcox |
| Assistant Manager/Goalkeeping Coach | Kevin Pressman |
| Kitman | Jed Hallam |
| Dates | Name | Notes | First Game | Last Game | P | W | D | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959–1960 |  Charles Walker | |||||||
| 1960–1961 | Tom Daley | |||||||
| 1961–1963 | Gladstone Guest | |||||||
| 1964–1971 | Russell Green | |||||||
| 1971–1973 | Jim Kilkenny | |||||||
| ?-? | Bobby Ham | |||||||
| 1979–1980 | Roy Ellam | |||||||
| 1980–1981 | Neil Warnock | |||||||
| 1985–1987 |  Pat Buckley | |||||||
| 1991–1993 | Gary Simpson | 24 August 1991 | 9 October 1993 | 96 | 30 | 26 | 40 | |
| 1993–1994 |  Leighton James | 26 October 1993 | 3 January 1994 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1994–1995 | Gary Brook | 12 February 1994 | 29 April 1995 | 52 | 18 | 15 | 19 | |
| 1995–1998 | Ernie Moss | 19 August 1995 | 27 April 1998 | 128 | 60 | 34 | 34 | |
| 1998–1999 | Steve Richards | 22 August 1998 | 15 October 1999 | 52 | 23 | 10 | 19 | |
| 1999–2000 | Ernie Moss | 6 November 1999 | 24 April 2000 | 33 | 11 | 13 | 9 | |
| 2000 | Greg Fee | 19 August 2000 | 21 October 2000 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 8 | |
| 2000–2001 | Phil Tingay | 24 October 2000 | 20 October 2001 | 44 | 20 | 13 | 11 | |
| 2001 | Phil Brown & Frank Nicholson | Caretakers | 27 October 2001 | 17 November 2001 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 2001–2002 | Dave Norton | Player/Manager | 24 November 2001 | 23 April 02 | 25 | 6 | 6 | 13 |
| 2002–2003 | Phil Stant | Player/Manager | 17 August 2002 | 26 April 2003 | 44 | 16 | 11 | 17 |
| 2003–2007 | Paul Mitchell | 16 August 2003 | 1 December 2007 | 186 | 63 | 51 | 72 | |
| 2007–2009 | Steve Charles | Caretaker until 5 January 2008 then permanent | 8 December 2007 | 17 August 2009 | 72 | 24 | 22 | 26 |
| 2009 | Dave Reeves &Steve Blatherwick | Caretaker Managers | 22 August 2009 | 22 August 2009 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2009 | Adie Moses | Caretaker Manager | 22 August 2009 | 28 August 2009 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2009–2011 | Brian Little | 28 August 2009 | 20 August 2011 | 80 | 25 | 17 | 38 | |
| 2011–2016 | Steve Housham | 20 August 2011 | 8 March 2016 | 201 | 80 | 36 | 85 | |
| 2016–2017 | Dominic Roma | Player/Manager | 12 March 2016 | 4 February 2017 | ||||
| 2017 | Adam Quinn | Caretaker Manager | 11 February 2017 | 11 February 2017 | ||||
| 2017–2018 | Dave Frecklington | 18 February 2017 | 5 February 2018[13] | |||||
| 2018 | Nathan Jarman & Adam Quinn | Caretaker Managers | 10 February 2018 | 10 February 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2018–2019 | Lee Sinnott | |||||||
| 2019 | Ross Hannah &Liam King | |||||||
| 2019–2021 | Curtis Woodhouse | |||||||
| 2021–2022 | Tom Shaw | |||||||
| 2022–2023 | Neal Bishop & Damon Parkinson | |||||||
| 2023 | Neal Bishop | |||||||
| 2023 | Darryn Stamp | |||||||
| 2023– | Russ Wilcox |
