Scunthorpe United are set to make a move for Gainsborough Trinity boss Russ Wilcox as they look to appoint a successor to Andy Butler, Football Lowdown understands.
The 62-year-old led the Iron to promotion from League Two in 2014 and is now in his fourth season in charge of their Lincolnshire neighbours.
Scunthorpe Turn To A Familiar Face
Wilcox’s odds to become the next Scunthorpe manager shortened from 16/1 to 1/3 overnight before betting was suspended on Wednesday morning. Scunthorpe are yet to announce a permanent successor to Butler, who was dismissed on 28 October, and an approach for Phil Parkinson was turned down yesterday.
Butler took the club up from National League North through the play-offs in his first full season, then led them to fifth in the National League before they fell at the play-off semi-final stage. Scunthorpe are now 23rd with ten points from 15 games, three points adrift of safety after five successive league defeats.
Jacob Butterfield and Ross Barrows were placed in interim charge following Butler’s departure. The Iron lost 2-1 at Boston United in their first game under the pair and went out of the FA Cup at Port Vale last Saturday, scoring twice late on before conceding a fourth in a 4-2 defeat.
Their next league game is at home to sixth-placed Worthing on 14 November.
What Wilcox Has Done At Gainsborough
Wilcox took over at Gainsborough in September 2023 with Trinity at the foot of the Northern Premier League Premier Division, two tiers below the National League. They finished eighth that season and seventh in each of his two full campaigns, missing the play-offs by four points last term. They currently sit fifth with 29 points from 17 games.
His cup record at Trinity includes a 4-0 win at Boston United and a comeback from 3-0 down against Hednesford Town on the way to the FA Cup second round in 2024/25, where they lost 1-0 to Harrogate Town. The following season they beat Hartlepool United in a replay to earn a first-round tie at home to Accrington Stanley.
There is already a link between Wilcox’s Gainsborough side and the current Scunthorpe squad. Forward Declan Howe, who scored the Iron’s second goal at Port Vale, joined them in 2025 after scoring 67 goals across two seasons for Trinity under Wilcox.
Wilcox made 118 league appearances as a Scunthorpe player before succeeding Brian Laws as manager in 2013 and going 28 games unbeaten at the start of his reign. He was sacked in October 2014 after the Iron won two of their first 11 games back in League One, and returned as caretaker in 2020 after Paul Hurst’s departure. If he comes back again, his immediate task will be to keep the club in the National League.
