 Wilder has experienced challenging times at Halifax |
Halifax Town manager Chris Wilder can finally see light at the end of the tunnel in his bid to revive the ailing former Football League club. Wilder's attempts to lead Town back into the League have constantly been undermined by financial difficulties and off the field problems.
They reached a head earlier this month when Halifax faced a winding up hearing in the High Court over debts owed to the Inland Revenue.
A stay of execution was earned when the case was adjourned with a consortium fronted by local businessmen David Bosomworth and Bobby Ham, who is also a former Football League player, given four weeks to complete their proposed takeover.
And Wilder is banking on that deal to restore order at the Shay and allow him to focus his efforts on continuing Town's climb up the Blue Square Premier table.
"We have been told by David Bosomworth and Bobby Ham that it's full steam ahead," Wilder told BBC Sport.
"I have had contact with these people for a long time and I am encouraged by their attitude and the way they want to take the club forward.
"That's why I have ended up stopping. With Halifax there are always hurdles and the goalposts get moved but hopefully we can move on and start dealing in football things."
 | It's been an unsettling period but they are a tight bunch |
The uncertainty surrounding Halifax's future has dragged on for months and Wilder, now in his sixth season in charge, has often felt he has been fighting an uphill battle.
"I had all summer worrying about it. People said it would be all right and not to get sidetracked, but it's only natural," he said.
"Look at a club like Stevenage with an excellent manager and a good club off the field which has everything pointing in the direction of success and we are expected to get results against teams like that and Torquay and Burton. You don't see clubs like that having these sort of troubles.
"I don't see many people with the problems I have had to encounter. It's been a difficult time but we have tried to do our best."
Last season the problems impacted on the field, with a struggle against relegation which hung over into the start of the current campaign with no wins in the opening four games.
"Players aren't daft. They know what's happening. They read papers and it was difficult with the sensational comments coming out that it was the end of the football club," added Wilder.
"Supporters were coming to the ground not knowing what was happening and the only visible thing they could take their frustration out on was the team because we didn't put to bed a couple of teams that on paper we should have done, and that gets to players.
"It's been an unsettling period but they are a tight bunch. We went to Oxford in the week there was the threat of closure and drew 1-1 which showed there's a lot of spirit amongst the players."
Since then Halifax, despite a squad of just 16 players, have won three out of four games with recent signing Jon Shaw contributing five goals in as many games.
 | It's been a difficult time but we have tried to do our best |
That run has lifted them up to 11th and Wilder is eager to keep the resurgence going.
He said: "We have never been a million miles away. At the start of the season I said that on the football front that we have got good players and when they are up to speed and producing what they are capable of we are not bad.
"This time of the season is about putting yourself in a position. We never really did that last season and never really got any momentum going.
"For the previous two seasons we had lengthy spells where we were in good position and that's what you want. There are a lot of clubs that want to do that, and we are one of them."
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