Liverpool Owners Hicks & Gillett Lose Court Battle To Stop Sale

Liverpool fans were left jubilant today after a court hearing ruled against American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks, paving the way to a possible sale to Boston Red Sox owners New England Sports Ventures.

While the full ramifications of the ruling are yet to be processed, it will come as a huge relief to Reds' fans all over the globe, the first bright spot in what has been a hitherto terrible start to the 2010/11 season.

At 10:42am, UK time, Mr. Justice Floyd ruled that the mandatory injunction wanted by bank RBS against Hicks and Gillett would be granted. The judge went on to state that the duo "did not have an absolute right to veto a sale" and imposed injunctions on them to reinstate the original constitutions of the companies and managing directors. This means that Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre will be back on the Liverpool FC board - giving them, along with Chairman Martin Broughton, the majority vote on any decision to sell the club.

In a further slap to the face of the American owners, the court ordered that they would have to pay the court costs of RBS, while Broughton has also asked that they be ordered to pay the costs for Liverpool. The total court costs are estimated to be anywhere between £250,000 and £500,000.

While Liverpool fans will rejoice at seeing Hicks in particular fail in his latest attempt to foil the sale of the club, and indeed walk away with nothing in his pocket from the deal, the next few hours could indeed be just as pivotal to the future of the club as the court case was this morning.

Judge Floyd refused to grant right of appeal to Hicks and Gillett, meaning that they would have to apply through the Appeal Courts if they wish to fight the ruling, but their time to do so is rather restricted given that the judge further ruled that a board meeting - to discuss the sale of the club, to NESV and potentially other parties - must take place by 8pm tonight.

Hicks had wanted this delayed until tomorrow morning, but was again thwarted.

Martin Broughton stated somewhat ironically that Gillett and Hicks would of course be invited to the board meeting, but whether they even bother to attend yet remains to be seen given they would have no defining vote on the matter.

A turbulent period in Liverpool Football Club's history is perhaps drawing to a close; many details yet need to be established before the sale can be completed, while of course there is no guarantee that any new owners would be any better than the current incumbents.

However, for now, after such a long period of campaigning and battling against the much-disliked, greedy, self-centered ownership of the club, the fans will take today as a great stride forward in putting their club back to where they feel it belongs.

Matters off the pitch seem to be drawing towards a satisfactory conclusion; Reds the world over will now turn their attentions to on-field matters in the crunch Merseyside derby match at the weekend, where three points, local pride and relegation spots are all on offer.