Supporting Wigan Athletic has been such a rollercoaster ride. The highs have been marvellous: the lows have tested the resilience in us all.

Until the closing matches of the restarted season I had resigned myself to not worrying about what division Latics would be in next season. My main concern was for the survival of the club.

But I got hooked by the wonderful reaction of Paul Cook’s squad. Despite not having received their normal pay for months they played so well, making a wonderful effort to nullify that horrible 12-point penalty. Not having the fortune to get that second goal against Fulham was heart-breaking for players and fans alike.

Today’s decision by an appeal court regarding the 12-point deduction rubbed salt into the open wound.

Like many fans of “smaller” clubs I have become disillusioned with the way football in England has been going. Put simply, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. There was always a “feeling” in the Premier League days that they really didn’t want a club like Wigan mingling with the elite and bloated. Since Latics have returned to the jurisdiction of the EFL that feeling has never gone away. Feelings are what they are: hard to substantiate, but one remains sceptical about the people in power in English, and indeed world, football.

Sometimes the heart can speak more loudly than the mind. The bottom line is that Latics still exist and long may that continue. It is heart-breaking to see staff laid off and players being sold for meagre prices, but other clubs have been through administration and come out of it stronger.

Paul Cook has gone and we can expect almost all of the senior squad to be on their way. The wage bill over summer must be drastically reduced so some players who would normally command a significant transfer fee will be freed from their contracts to get them off the wage bill.

Let’s take a brief look at how fans reacted to today’s news through the message boards and social media.

Our thanks go to the Cockney Latic Forum, the Vital Wigan – Latics Speyk Forum and Twitter for providing the media for the posts below to happen. Thanks go to all whose contributions are identified below.

Th10 on the Latics Speyk Forum commented:

It’s what we all expected, an absolute joke.

I really fear for the future of the club now. Only a few weeks till the start of the new season. We don’t have owners or a manager and won’t have many players left. What will the EFL do next when we’re not in a position to start the season? They’re going to destroy the club.

FrancosLoveChild on the Latics Speyk Forum said:

I wont stop loving Wigan, but I have fallen out with the sport, football was/is a big part of me, but as the years go on, you see how the sport is becoming more and more about keeping the big clubs happy for revenue than the integrity of the sport.

Cupwinners on the Cockney LaticForum said

I’m afraid this could be the final nail in the coffin for Wigan Athletic.

We need to find a new owner yesterday with mega deep bottomless pockets. We have no money, no crowd, no match day money, no manager, players leaving daily, TV funding slashed, players fire saled and clauses to allow them to leave cheap or free. Players been sold for nothing.

A new owner? J—s !! , as a business you would have to have your head seeing to take us on. I fear for our future truly fear. We need someone in asap or we will for sure be the new Bury.

Zeb2 on the Latics Speyk Forum said:

I don’t hate the DW/JJB but it will never feel the same to me as Springfield Park did.

All your childhood/teenage experiences are more intensely felt and burned into your memory than what comes afterwards.

The prospect of returning to L1 or L2 if we were at Springfield wouldn’t faze me one bit but is far more concern8ng rattling round a largely soulless stadium …..though to be absolutely fair we have had some cracking matches/atmospheres there as well, it’s just that you generally need 15k plus to generate that at the DW.

Of course we deserve a club, absolutely, it’s just profoundly more difficult for us as a 40 odd year ’League club’ to be located in this area which is a cauldron of English football.

It isn’t the Rugby that’s a problem for me it’s the born and bred Wiganers strutting around in their Utd/Liverpool/Everton/etc shirts (most of whom have never been)….I know Wiganers who are season ticket holders at Bolton, Burnley (fkn Burnley ?) and Blackpool , what’s that about ?

Clubs like Burnley, Stoke, Norwich, even Leicester enjoy the distinct advantage of being substantial towns/cities that are slap bang in the centre of “nowhereinparticularshire” ….draw a 20 mile radius round their grounds and who are they competing with ?….maybe one rival of a similar or bigger size or more likely none at all. Draw a 20 mile radius round Wigan and ….well !

Ideally we should be in a 12/15,000 stadium but we Can’t make that happen unfortunately.

Lets get past this current crisis and press on from there ….Onwards (but maybe not upwards for a bit just yet !)