Liverpool’s owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have had their boardroom coup slapped down by the High Court today.
Hicks and Gillett tried to replace two board members with two of their own in order to block the sale of Liverpool to New England Sports Ventures (NESV). But the judge, ruled they did not have the power to do so.
“I am absolutely elated, it’s a very important day for our club,” said Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton as he left the Royal Courts of Justice in London. This will clear the way for the sale, we will have a board meeting this evening and proceed with the sale. It has been an anxious time but we have been confident. But when you go to court you can never be sure.”
Regarding the sale to NESV, Broughton added:
“The board has to be reconstituted and I can’t prejudge what the board is going to say. It would be inappropriate to prejudge what the board may say. But the club’s going to have a great future. We will re-establish the right basis for the club. The acquisition debt that has been plaguing us will be gone, we have a great future. We will get the right owners for the fans.”
NESV has also issued a statement welcoming the High Court decision.
“NESV welcomes today’s High Court judgment, which is a huge step forward for Liverpool FC. NESV has a binding agreement in place with the Board of Liverpool FC and we are looking forward to concluding the deal.”
The NESV statement would seem to indicate that Liverpool’s board cannot consider any other bids, even though at least one other bid has reportedly been made.