SOCCER LIVERPOOL COURT CASE:JEST WHEN the fractious Anfield era of Tom Hicks and George Gillett seemed to at an end last night after a British high court judge definitively ruled against the pair the US owners last night sought to throw another spanner in the works claiming the Texas State District Court had granted a temporary restraining order preventing the sale from going ahead.They claimed the Liverpool directors executed an "epic swindle" and claimed damages of €1.15bn.

The high court case in London had seemed to pave the way for the sale of the club to be concluded as soon as today. The Liverpool board, led by the chairman Martin Broughton, were last night in a board meeting that was also attended by the principal owner of New England Sports Ventures, John W Henry.

The owners of the Boston Red Sox were believed to be on the verge of a €341m deal for Liverpool. Hicks and Gillett had sought to block the sale but, ruling that their actions represented “the clearest possible breach” of a corporate governance agreement signed with RBS in April. Mr Justice Floyd ordered Hicks and Gillett to allow the club’s board to be reconstituted in its original form by 8pm last night. Henry arrived at a meeting of the board shortly after that time at the central London offices of Liverpool’s lawyers, Slaughter May.

The prospect of an imminent deal would have come as a blow to Peter Lim, the Singaporean billionaire who had earlier urged the board to reopen the process after he promised to increase his offer to €364m in cash and €45m for player transfers.

Following the court case, a jubilant Broughton appeared to indicate a deal had already been done with NESV when he said: “We said right from the offset that we would find the right owners for Liverpool, and that was our target. I think we’ve done that.”

It is understood that all the paperwork and funding is in place in order to formally complete the sale, if Liverpool’s lawyers advise that it would be watertight and not open to further challenge.

Broughton was greeted as a hero as he left the court. He is now expected to leave the club but will be venerated alongside other Liverpool legends by fans, who vociferously protested when it emerged Hicks and Gillett had secured their borrowings against the club and were funding interest payments from its cashflow.

NESV reiterated that it had a “binding agreement” and was ready to “move quickly” to complete. It has promised to provide €227m to clear the existing acquisition debt and another €114m in working capital. Tom Werner, NESV’s chairman who has a background as a senior US media executive, is also flying to Britain in the hope of concluding the deal. If it is concluded in short order, they will attend Sunday’s Merseyside derby as new owners.

It emerged in court that the board and NESV were contractually bound until November 1st, with one of the conditions of sale being that Liverpool seek a declaratory judgment to clarify its legality. But that may not now be necessary following RBS’s comprehensive victory. A sale to NESV would also remove the threat of administration and a nine-point penalty being imposed by the Premier League.

Emerging from the Royal Courts of Justice to cheers, Broughton promised fans a “bright future” for the club after RBS succeeded in reconstituting the club’s board to allow its sale to proceed. Hicks and Gillett had last week attempted to block the sale by dissolving the board and replacing the chief executive, Christian Purslow, and the commercial director, Ian Ayre, with their own appointments.

Under the refinancing agreement in April, Broughton was installed to oversee the sale and the duo recognised in writing that only he could change the make-up of the board and promised not to interfere in the sale process. The judge also said it would be “entirely wrong” to grant a counter-claim from Hicks and Gillett designed to postpone the €341m sale of the club to NESV.

They claimed that the board operated in secret and ignored other bidders who might have paid more for the club, but those arguments were given short shrift. When they bought Liverpool, Gillett and Hicks promised to begin work on a new ground within 60 days and said they would not borrow money against the club. Having broken both of those promises, they will leave Liverpool with fan protests ringing in their ears.

The judge said it would be “inappropriate” for Hicks and Gillett to appeal, but the option of an application to the Court of Appeal remains open.

• Guardian Service