thumb|right|Gainsborough Trinity squad photo for 1966–67
Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsborough one of the smallest towns in England to have had a Football League team. They are currently members of and play at the Northolme.
History
The club was established in 1873 as Trinity Recreationists by the Reverend George Langton Hodgkinson, vicar of Holy Trinity parish, Gainsborough. In 1889 the club were founder members of the Midland League, which they won in 1890–91. 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 members Port Vale and Crewe Alexandra, and were elected into the Second Division. The club's first 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. In 1901–02 Trinity finished bottom of the division, but were re-elected. In 1904–05 the club finished sixth in Division Two, their best performance during their Football League membership. The club returned to the Midland League, finishing third in 1912–13 and second in 1913–14, The club won the Midland League title in 1927–28, and the following 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 to Chesterfield in the second round. They lost 1–0 at Harrogate Town in the second round which was televised on BBC Two.
Ground
thumb|right|The Northolme
Trinity moved to the Northolme ground, then also a cricket venue, in 1884. During their time in the Football League the club also played home matches at the Bowling Green Ground in the north-west of the town and Sincil Bank in Lincoln when the Northolme was being used for cricket.
{| class=wikitable
!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
|}
Managerial history
{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center
!Dates
!Name
!Notes
!First Game
!Last Game
!P
!W
!D
!L
|-
|1959–1960||align=left| Charles Walker|| || || || || || ||
|-
|1960–1961||align=left| Tom Daley|| || || || || ||||
|-
|1961–1963||align=left| Gladstone Guest|| || || || || ||||
|-
|1964–1971||align=left| Russell Green|| || || || || ||||
|-
|1971–1973||align=left| Jim Kilkenny|| || || || || ||||
|-
|?-?||align=left| Bobby Ham|| || || || || ||||
|-
|1979–1980||align=left| Roy Ellam|| || || || || ||||
|-
|1980–1981||align=left| Neil Warnock|| || || || || ||||
|-
|1985–1987||align=left| Pat Buckley|| || || || || ||||
|-
|1991–1993||align=left| Gary Simpson||||24 August 1991||9 October 1993||96||30||26||40
|-
|1993–1994||align=left| Leighton James||||26 October 1993||3 January 1994||11||4||3||4
|-
|1994–1995||align=left| Gary Brook||||12 February 1994||29 April 1995||52||18||15||19
|-
|1995–1998||align=left| Ernie Moss||||19 August 1995||27 April 1998||128||60||34||34
|-
|1998–1999||align=left| Steve Richards||||22 August 1998||15 October 1999||52||23||10||19
|-
|1999–2000||align=left| Ernie Moss||||6 November 1999||24 April 2000||33||11||13||9
|-
|2000||align=left| Greg Fee|||||19 August 2000||21 October 2000||14||2||4||8
|-
|2000–2001||align=left| Phil Tingay||||24 October 2000||20 October 2001||44||20||13||11
|-
|2001||align=left| Phil Brown &<br> Frank Nicholson||Caretakers||27 October 2001||17 November 2001||5||2||1||2
|-
|2001–2002||align=left| Dave Norton||Player/Manager||24 November 2001||23 April 02||25||6||6||13
|-
|2002–2003||align=left| Phil Stant|||Player/Manager||17 August 2002||26 April 2003||44||16||11||17
|-
|2003–2007||align=left| Paul Mitchell||||16 August 2003||1 December 2007||186||63||51||72
|-
|2007–2009||align=left| Steve Charles||Caretaker until 5 January 2008<br>then permanent||8 December 2007||17 August 2009||72||24||22||26
|-
|2009||align=left| Dave Reeves &<br>||Caretaker Managers||22 August 2009||22 August 2009||1||0||0||1
|-
|2009||align=left| Adie Moses||Caretaker Manager||22 August 2009||28 August 2009||3||1||0||2
|-
|2009–2011||align=left| Brian Little||||28 August 2009||20 August 2011||80||25||17||38
|-
|2011–2016||align=left| Steve Housham||||20 August 2011||8 March 2016||201||80||36||85
|-
|2016–2017||align=left| Dominic Roma||Player/Manager||12 March 2016||4 February 2017|| || || ||
|-
|2017||align=left| Adam Quinn||Caretaker Manager||11 February 2017||11 February 2017|| || || ||
|-
|2017–2018||align=left| Dave Frecklington|| ||18 February 2017||5 February 2018|| || || ||
|-
|2018||align=left| Nathan Jarman & Adam Quinn||Caretaker Managers||10 February 2018||10 February 2018||1||0||0||1
|-
|2018–2019||align=left| Lee Sinnott|| || || || || || ||
|-
|2019||align=left| Ross Hannah & Liam King|| || || || || || ||
|-
|2019–2021||align=left| Curtis Woodhouse|| || || || || || ||
|-
|2021–2022||align=left| Tom Shaw|| || || || || || ||
|-
|2022–2023 ||align=left| Neal Bishop & Damon Parkinson || || || || || || ||
|-
|2023 ||align=left| Neal Bishop || || || || || || ||
|-
|2023 ||align=left| Darryn Stamp || || || || || || ||
|-
|2023– ||align=left| Russ Wilcox || || || || || || ||
|-
|}
Honours
- Midland League
- Champions 1890–91, 1927–28, 1948–49, 1966–67
- Northern Premier League
- Challenge Cup winners 1981–82, 1996–97
- Lincolnshire Senior Cup
- Winners 1889–90, 1892–93, 1894–95, 1897–98, 1903–04, 1904–05, 1906–07, 1910–11, 1970–71, 2002–03, 2017–18
- Lincolnshire County Senior Cup
- Winners 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49
- Lincolnshire Senior 'A' Cup
- Winners 1950–51, 1951–52, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1963–64
- Lincolnshire Shield
- Winners 2007–08, 2011–12
Records
- Best FA Cup performance: Third round, 1886–87