And he admitted that even up to 2pm yesterday he was hoping that a resolution could be found.

"Obviously Wednesday's meeting didn't go very well and yesterday we just sat and hoped that everything would be sorted out," he said.

"Everybody is devastated.

"I have just had to tell 20 players that there is no longer a club, I have my general manager in bits and I feel for the supporters.

"I also feel for sport in the long term in and around the area because I know what part a football club plays in a community.

"I think it will have widespread ramifications on a lot of things."

Wilder added that he would leave the club after six years in charge with no regrets about anything his side had done on the pitch.

"I had a few regrets when my playing career was over," he said. "I never really gave it my all.

"But I know deep down that I have given my life and soul to this club.

"I have no regrets about how I have gone about it.

"I have been here since 2002 and we built it up from nothing with a budget in the bottom third in the league.

"We have had a couple of top 10 finishes culminating in an unbelievable play off final experience.

"The last two seasons have been a struggle on the pitch.

"We came through the situation of having 10 points docked going into the last month of the season. I thought I had seen it all in the last six years, but this tops the lot.

"I have gone through every emotion, every problem anyone could have at a club.

"But I have gone through it in the knowledge that we wanted to build the club up and move it forward.

"We have had unbelievable hurdles to get over in the last six years, now one off the pitch has not been cleared and the club finds itself in this situation.

"There will be regrets that things were not handled a little differently off the pitch.

"On the pitch we have done an excellent job in keeping it going and surviving in an ever-progressing league.

"It has been an up and down ride and there have been lows. I have learned a lot and I am proud of what I achieved."

Altrincham are set to be handed a reprieve from relegation for the third successive season.

In 2006/07, the Cheshire side finished 21st, but stayed up because Boston were relegated straight through to Blue Square North due to financial problems.

And 12 months earlier they finished bottom but stayed up when Canvey Island volunteered to go down and Scarborough were expelled for breaching league rules.