Soccer:Crystal Palace have been hauled back from the brink of extinction after the CPFC 2010 consortium finally agreed a deal in principle to buy the club and its Selhurst Park ground.
The administrator in charge of the Coca-Cola Championship club, who have debts of £30million (€36m), gave them until 3pm today to reach an agreement with Lloyds Bank before the liquidation process was due to begin.
Hundreds of Palace fans who had gathered outside the bank's headquarters to demonstrate were fearing the worst when that deadline passed.
But negotiations were continuing behind closed doors and the deal has now been struck, saving the 105-year-old club from going out of business in the nick of time.
A statement from Lloyds Bank read: "(Stadium administrator) PricewaterhouseCoopers has reached an agreement in principle with CPFC 2010 in relation to the sale of Selhurst Park.
"This enables the consortium to go ahead with the purchase of both the Crystal Palace Football Club and Selhurst Park.
"Lloyds Banking Group has worked hard throughout this process to achieve a durable solution. We are pleased a successful conclusion has now been reached.
"We are also pleased that PwC, which acts on behalf of Selhurst Park, has publicly acknowledged today the ongoing support it has received from Lloyds Banking Group."
The takeover stalled on Monday over a clause in the contract which would see the bank receive further money if the ground was sold on in the future.
Club administrator Brendan Guilfoyle, who has no funds to pay wages and made 29 staff redundant on Friday, said he would have to begin selling players - effectively ending any hopes of the takeover being completed - unless the deal could be salvaged by this afternoon.
CPFC 2010, fronted by local businessmen Steve Parish and Martin Long, even called on British prime minister David Cameron to intervene.
But today's announcement should secure the future of the club, who overcame a 10-point deduction to avoid relegation to League One on the final day of the season and now appear to have won an even bigger battle.
CPFC 2010 are confident the takeover can proceed now their differences with Bank of Scotland, a subsidiary of Lloyds which is selling Selhurst Park, have been resolved.
A statement from the consortium read: "We can now confirm that there are no material differences between ourselves and Bank of Scotland regarding the sale of Selhurst Park.
"While it is not 100 per cent done we are confident that all the main barriers have been removed."
Supporters have been congregating at the stadium and outside the bank over the past two days to highlight the club's desperate plight.
CPFC 2010 added: "We would thank the fans for their support and urge everyone at the ground to leave peacefully as we work to try to conclude things."