The soon-to-be former Town boss - the club still exists but it is only a matter of time before it is liquidated - has spent the weekend reflecting the end of the Shaymen's 97-year existence.

And he clearly believes the final two seasons in the Football League, noted for a big playing budget and players signing from Championship clubs, are the root cause of the current situation.

"I think it goes back to when I was a player here," he said. "Since then things have not been right.

"I think we are all paying the price for a couple of seasons.

"The club was financially stable when it sold Geoff Horsfield under Jim Brown, who comes in for a lot of stick but ran a stable club where people got paid on time.

"And it went from that to one that overspent unbelievably and went into administration.

"That was the era that ultimately put this club to the sword."

Wilder arrived at the Shay in July 2002 after the club had been placed into administration and sacked its entire playing and management staff.

And successive chairmen since then have tried - and failed - to get the club off its knees.

"I have worked under four or five chairman and I think every one of them has come in wanting to do their best for the club," said Wilder.

"But they have never managed to bottom it (the debt) and it has always been hanging over us.

"There has always been that week to week existence and that cannot happen.

"I know that David Bosomworth and Bobby Ham have done their utmost for this club - and not for financial gain - to turn things around."

The final irony was that having worked under so many regimes, it was Wilder who had to tell the players the news that the club would not survive the latest crisis.

"I felt it was apt that I was the one to tell them," he said. "There were no directors or a chairman in sight."