Today marks a year since the beginning of the 2019/20 Championship season, but the result of tomorrow’s play-off final between Fulham and Brentford, won’t be the last we hear of this season’s league table.

Verdicts, appeal processes and hearings involving second tier clubs and the EFL are only just beginning. Club statements have landed with great regularity.

First, Wigan’s appeal against the 12-point penalty given to the club for being in administration was heard on Friday, with a decision expected to be made in the next 48 hours.

Joint administrators Paul Stanley and Gerald Krasner both gave witness statements and were cross-examined, as the Latics appealed against the points deduction imposed which sent them tumbling into League One.

Wigan’s troubles continued on Saturday, with the decision of manager Paul Cook to the leave the DW Stadium after three years, doing so with “a heavy heart”.

Barnsley were able to state their case during the hearing, given they are the side whose Championship future hangs on Wigan’s point deduction being upheld.

Last month, the Reds posted a club statement which included: “What Barnsley Football Club cannot accept is the blatant disregard for sporting/competitive integrity and the lack of governance in our division.”

That brings us on to the decision of Friday evening, as there was finally a verdict on Sheffield Wednesday’s alleged breach of Profitability and Sustainability rules.

The outcome was that an independent Disciplinary Commission, appointed under EFL Regulations, ruled the Owls would become the second Championship team to be hit with a 12-point deduction for the breach over a three-year period, ending with the 2017/18 season.

That would have seen them relegated, and Charlton survive, until the next line of the statement read: “The sporting sanction will take effect in 2020/21.”

The charges were brought against the club in November 2019, referred to an independent Disciplinary Commission, with a hearing then held last month.

The EFL added the club were found guilty “based on the fact that the club should not have included profits from the sale of Hillsborough Stadium in the club’s financial statements for the period ending July 2018”. The Owls were found not guilty of a further charge of deliberately concealing information.

Then came Wednesday’s response, a similar length statement appearing on their website.

“The club is extremely disappointed that the commission has imposed a 12-point deduction to be applied next season and awaits the written reasons for this decision,” it read.

The 12-point deduction being applied next season spared the Owls from relegation, which had it been imposed this season would have seen them finish bottom. The Owls added: “The club will await the written reasons for the sanction and upon receipt will digest and consider the full detail with its legal advisers before making any further comment.”

The immediate thought of imposing the penalty next season was whether that would provide further grounds of appeal from Wigan, but also the impact on Charlton. The Addicks were relegated on the final day, finishing a point behind Barnsley, and one ahead of Wigan after their deduction, to finish 22nd.

They themselves were the subject of an EFL statement last week, with the league having written to the club “requesting further information and a meeting” in a bid to “clarify the ongoing ownership issues at the club in the context of the EFL Regulations”.

That meeting is now said to have taken place between the league, a representative from East Street Investments and the proposed new owners.

Within hours of that, the club released a statement of their own in respect of Wednesday being found guilty.

It read: “The club is considering a legal challenge following the news Sheffield Wednesday will receive a sporting sanction that will take effect in the 2020/21 season.”

Having been charged in November 2019 for breaching spending rules in the three year period up to the 2017/18 season, Charlton added: “We fail to understand why the deduction will take place next season rather than the current season, which seems to be irrational, and are writing to the EFL to get an explanation of the justification.”

Think we’re done there? Well then there’s Derby County. The Rams are waiting to learn the outcome of their EFL hearing after being charged in January over alleged breaches of spending rules, reportedly relating to the sale of their stadium. The football season is almost done, but lawsuit season could just be beginning.