SLEEP was in short supply on Tuesday, August 27 as the EFL deadline had passed and they had issued the notice to withdraw Bolton Wanderers’ membership of the league and the Administrators were threatening liquidation if no deal could be reached.

It was the culmination of the unprecedented financial horrors we’ve endured over the past four years.

The sheer scale of the finances involved meant we were powerless to help out as we have done in previous crises, like when Nat Lofthouse launched Lifeline.

Just before everything started to go pear-shaped, I asked a director of BWFC ‘Who wants to buy a club that is £180million in debt?’

The response was ‘If that worries them, they are the wrong kind of buyer. Everything is in hand’.

“The day after was the first time that wages went unpaid.

Unpaid staff, unpaid bills, food banks, player strikes, cancelled matches, annihilation of the playing squad, numerous winding-up orders in court, locks on the training ground gates, water supplies cut off, hotel closed, and countless other humiliations have followed, leading us to the point of extinction.

I have a confession to make in that I did meet and welcome Mr Bassini to Bolton back in April, although I did tell him that ‘I could see the pigs flying over his head when he was on Sky TV promising to get Wanderers back in the Premier League within two or three years’.

He laughed and replied that he wasn’t very good on TV.

I don’t mind admitting there were tears in my eyes when the news of the Football Ventures deal erupted on Wednesday evening.

Immense feelings of relief, joy and optimism overwhelmed me as it meant that Wanderers had a future. The Ipswich match was not going to be our last.

The trip to Gillingham was brilliant. The mood of the supporters was so upbeat and positive. We were proud to support the young lads who have worn the Wanderers’ shirts with pride.

We can look forward to the club being rebuilt and we want to be in on that journey.

On the way back, we heard about the appointment of Keith Hill and David Flitcroft, both Bolton men joining the cause.

With Michael James on board and most of the coaching staff associated with Bolton, there is definitely a feeling that we’re doing this with our own people.

Perhaps we should adopt Ms Brittan.