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The Liverpool FC Court Case : The Gloves Come Off

Published by Ian John on October 14, 2010

The future of Liverpool was and then wasn’t decided today and for owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks, the gloves have well and truly come off and the battle lines drawn.

The day did not start too well for the Texan duo as the judge, at 10.30am on Wednesday morning announced:

“I am not prepared to grant any action that will stop the SPA (Sale Process Agreement) going through. If I was to grant an injunction it would be substantially damaging to the club, the Royal Bank of Scotland and potentially substantially damaging to NESV as well.”

Broughton, Ayre and Purslow had won. Hicks and Gillett had been defeated. Indeed the Judge even warned the American paid that any subsequent appeal of this decision, would be highly inappropriate. Furthermore, the Americans would foot the bill for the legal hearing. As Broughton left the courts, he confirmed that a board meeting would take place at 8pm that evening to confirm the £300m purchase of the club by John W Henry’s NESV company.

Liverpool fans celebrated, Martin Broughton quickly became more popular than Bill Shankly to some. A chorus of “You’ll Never Walk Alone’ reverberated around the courtyard of the courts of appeal. The threat of the 9 point penalty had been lifted and the club now could look towards the Merseyside derby at the weekend with the hope of a new owner and a acquisition-debt free future.

However, it was incredible naivety on behalf of some commentators to assume that this would be the end of it, that somehow Hicks and Gillett would accept the loss of £140m and the court case and just shrug their shoulders and say “Ah well, we tried… I guess we need to learn from this mistake…”

So it was no surprise to me that the board meeting last night to ratify the sale was halted when Hicks and Gillett presented an injunction, granted by a judge in Dallas, effectively blocking the sale of the club until a hearing in late October.

But there was plenty more, Hicks and Gillett wanted their pound of flesh, so they launched a £1.6 billion (yes, you read that right) lawsuit against the club and the board. In a very strongly worded petition, they called the sale of the club a “swindle of epic proportions” (which considering the number of broken promises he has made since being a club owner, is rather rich).

So now the gloves are off, it is the current Liverpool board and the Royal Bank of Scotland against Hicks and Gillett, in Dallas in a couple of weeks time. Unless, of course, the issue is resolved before then. Which given the hard-nosed approach of Hicks and Gillett, seems unlikely.

Whether the permanent injunction Hicks and Gillett are seeking is granted is not yet known. What is known is that for once, the American’s intentions for Liverpool FC are patently clear. Amongst all the bravado, empty promises, videos of Hicks at work in his Liverpool scarf, cup of tea in hand, promises of new grounds, new players and a successful future. We now have the proof of what we have known all along.

Liverpool was a Hicks and Gillett cash cow. Nothing more, nothing less and they are not going to leave without their pound of flesh.

Or all 1.6 billion pounds of it more like.

So the story rumbles on. The gloves are off and it looks like being an intriguing and emotional battle.

Image Courtesy of ***virus_87 2008*** on Picturebox.com

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