1.02am: Would you look at the time? This blog was published at 8.34am yesterday morning. I think we'll call it a day here. Thanks for reading and thanks for all of your emails, comments and tweets. Steve Busfield will be back to guide you through the latest news on this story from around 9am this morning. Night.

Right, here's Owen Gibson's piece on the front page of today's paper.



Tom Hicks and George Gillett last night tried to derail Liverpool's sale to the owners of the Boston Red Sox by obtaining a temporary injunction in a Dallas court, claiming $1.6bn (£1bn) in damages and calling it an "epic swindle". The club immediately responded by vowing to overturn the "unwarranted and damaging" order as talks with New England Joint Ventures continued into the early hours after yesterday's resounding victory in the high court. As Liverpool's reconstituted board met with NESV, on the verge of a deal to buy the club for £300m and bring the tenure of Hicks and Gillett to a close, the duo launched a desperate bid to reopen the sale process. The restraining order appears to prevent a sale taking place before the hearing on 25 October. Now the boards of Kop Football and Kop Holdings accept they must fight to have it removed in order to proceed with the sale to NESV. A statement on the Liverpool website read: "The independent directors consider the restraining order to be unwarranted and damaging and will move as swiftly as possible to seek to have it removed." The news of the restraining order came in a statement posted on the website of the American law firm Fish & Richardson. The Texas District State Court petition accuses the chairman, Martin Broughton, appointed by the creditors Royal Bank of Scotland in April to oversee the sale of the club, and his fellow directors of acting as "pawns" of RBS to perpetrate an "epic swindle" in selling the club to NESV for less than half its supposed market value and ignoring several higher offers.

12.50am: "I understand that you must be getting a million emails right about now, and have information pouring from everywhere, but can you answer this?" asks Jack Vickers. "What is the likely outcome of all this? In plain English? What is most likely to happen?"

In plain English? I have no real idea. My gut feeling, though, is that NESV will end up owning Liverpool.

12.45am: This from the Dallas Observer Blog, containing quotes from Hicks and Gillett's lawyer:

I just spoke with Stodghill, who says his office is being "innundated with angry e-mails from Liverpool fans." I asked him: How does a Dallas court have jurisdiction over proceedings initiated in the U.K. He says: Royal Bank of Scotland is registered to do business in the state of Texas; and, of course, New England Sports Ventures is U.S. based. Also being sued is Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton. And, says Stodghill, "We allege in the lawsuit he committed some of his tortuous acts in Texas in meetings with Mr. Hicks, so we're suing him in part based on conduct here that did harm to Texas residents." Hicks and Gillett's £237 million debt to RBS is due Friday. So, then, what happens between now and then, as the TRO hearing is set for October 25? Says Stodghill, what happens in the next two days "remains to be seen." As in: "There could be an additional fight at the courthouse over the TRO -- that could potentially happen. There could be discussions with the board to evaluate the higher offers. The one offer they're refusing to evaluate is £100 million over NESV's. And there could be discussions with RBS."

12.45am: Owen Gibson has also been tweeting about the TRO: "why #LFC may take TRO seriously: US biz interests-contempt risk; hicks met broughton there; kop investments based in dallas; er, that's it." Elsewhere the highly informative Tariq Panja tweets: "RBS in tight spot. Argued in court for a quick judgment bcos debt needs to be repaid on Fri. But this TRO won't be lifted then. What to do?"

12.40am: The Liverpool board meeting has now ended. Is this square one?

12.38am: Owen Gibson has emailed me regarding the confusing issue over the 25 October hearing. "My sense is that Liverpool can apply to the judge to have it thrown out before then but this will buy Hicks and Gillett at least a couple more days - crucially, it will probably take them past RBS's deadline of October 15 and through the weekend."

Hopefully that clears it up for everybody.

12.36am: Ok, so here's a brief summary of today's events:

• This morning a high court ruled against Tom Hicks and George Gillett's attempt to block the sale of Liverpool FC by RBS to NESV.

• The judge told Hicks and Gillett it would be inappropriate to appeal against his decision.

• Martin Broughton, Christian Purslow and Ian Ayres attempted to press home the NESV deal.

• At the same time Singapore businessman Peter Lim maintained his interest in purchasing the club.

• A board meeting to ratify the sale of Liverpool to NESV was held at Slaughter and May's offices in London at 8pm. Just before the meeting NESV's John W Henry turned up out of the blue at the meeting, supposedly indicating the deal was a mere formality.

• Then we waited a bit.

• And then a Texas court granted Tom Hicks and George Gillett's appeal for an injunction to be placed on the sale of Liverpool FC to NESV.

• The pair also revealed they are claiming damages of $1.6bn against the three Liverpool board members, RBS and NESV.

• Liverpool later released a statement calling the TRO "unwarranted" and "damaging", and intend to get it removed as quickly as possible. They still hope to conclude the deal with NESV.

12.25am: Apologies, I've just been hydrating. A few of you are emailing in about the 25th October deadline (11.55pm). I'm a little unsure about this. It remains a little unclear. I doubt that 25th October hearing date will remain.

12am: Here's that TRO again.

11.55pm: David Goldstone emails in to point out that everything is on hold until 25 October as this is the hearing date in the Texas court.

11.50pm: It also appears that the Facebook page of Judge Jordan, who granted the restraining order, has been taken down. Can't think why. I've also been told that the phone line to the Texas court is unavailable.

11.48pm: It seems that NESV and RBS are respecting the TRO in order to protect their investments in the US.

11.40pm: An interesting email from a law student. "The Texas judge who issued the injunction has not made an decision on the merits of the case. The injunction just halts everything until there is a hearing. The grounds for granting an emergency TRO are that the actions will create irreparable harm that cannot be adequately compensated for through monetary damages. I suspect that once Judge Jordan actually has a hearing on the issue, he will dismiss it and remove the injunction. The Texas courts probably do have jurisdiction, but they will be hesitant to take it when it will put them in conflict with English courts that are better able to adjudicate the issue. Hopefully, this has only temporarily delayed the sale and Liverpool will avoid administration, but H&G have probably bought themselves a couple more days."

11.35pm: Friday, of course, is the deadline for Hicks and Gillett to refinance their loans with RBS. If this drags on, there's every chance they could still be in charge on Friday, and technically RBS would be able to call in the loan, thus placing Liverpool in administration, meaning they would be deducted nine points by the Premier League. This appears unlikely as it would scupper the sale to NESV, but it's something else to factor into the equation. It does seem that this is simply a delaying tactic by Hicks and Gillett.

11.29pm: Here is the statement from Liverpool's official site.

Following the successful conclusion of High Court proceedings today, the Boards of Directors of Kop Football and Kop Holdings met tonight and resolved to complete the sale of Liverpool FC to New England Sports Ventures. Regretably, Thomas Hicks and George Gillett have tonight obtained a Temporary Restraining Order from a Texas District Court against the independent directors, Royal Bank of Scotland PLC and NESV to prevent the transaction being completed. The independent directors consider the restraining order to be unwarranted and damaging and will move as swiftly as possible to seek to have it removed. A further statement will be made in due course.

11.25pm: In the next 30 minutes we should get an article on the latest developments from Owen Gibson up on the site.

11.23pm: It goes without saying that Liverpool still intend to complete the sale to NESV, although of course they need to get rid of the TRO first.

11.22pm: "I hope this whole saga with LFC will help other fans of leveraged clubs reflect on the potential damage this can do to our game and the clubs burdened with it," writes Keith Chesworth. "As a Liverpool fan I am of course delighted to hopefully see the last of these two Americans. No club should have to go through this. There should be a process or system in place to warn of, and action, to prevent such things from escalating to such levels. Manchester Utd are a big hit waiting to happen and although we have a fierce rivalry I would not want them to go through this as we have done. It is wrecking.LFC and Man UTD are to football what the ashes are to cricket.lose them and you have lost the soul in football."

11.15pm: Liverpool's board of directors have called this latest move by Hicks and Gillett "unwarranted" and " damaging". They will move as quickly as possible to get the TRO removed.

11.03pm: At around 9.20pm we were expecting to hear an announcement that the sale of Liverpool had been agreed. This is a quite astonishing turn of events. The sheer front of the pair is simply astounding.

10.55pm: Here is a concise round-up of recent events.

10.48pm: More on the jurisdiction issue. "If Royal Bank of Scotland does business dealings in Texas, courts there would certainly have personal jurisdiction over the bank," writes Daniel Stauss.

Elsewhere in the Telegraph Paul Kelso claims that "The jurisdiction of the Texas order in the UK was not immediately clear, but sources said the impact of the action could be to put RBS, which has considerable US interests, Broughton, through his role as BA chairman, and NESV in contempt of a US Court."

10.44pm: To boil this down, no one really knows what's going on. Our man on the ground, Owen Gibson, will hopefully have more information on this latest piece of chicanery very soon.

10.40pm: I've had the documents regarding the restraining order in my inbox for a while but I haven't been able to make them visible on this blog yet. Luckily Jason Cuthbert has emailed me this link, and if you scroll down the page, you can read the TRO in all its glory.

10.37pm: We await to hear from legal experts precisely what authority a court in Texas has over the sale of Liverpool. Brass necks doesn't really begin to cover this, does it?

10.33pm: Let's see what you have to say about this latest development.

"Texan courts don't even have jurisdiction over happenings in other states," says Jonathan Kaszynski. "This injunction is a vindictive act, hoping to cause the board and supporters of Liverpool Football Club as much trouble as possible. This has no chance in hell of seeing the light of day in court."

"I am currently warming down from a rather intense tennis match," says Phil Wainwright. "I declare the Liverpool sale valid. I take it the court I'm playing on has as much jurisdiction as the Texan one?"

"Can't the Premier League revoke H&G's status as 'fit and proper persons'?" asks K. Phillip Harrison. "I realise I risk being named in a Texan lawsuit for suggesting this (but I am ready to counter-sue in the district court of Matale, Sri Lanka where I have Friends)."

And lastly, here's David Penfold. "I looked at the photo and thought those Liverpool chaps have got one rubbish bodyguard."

10.30pm: So to sum up the latest developments:

• A Texas court has issued an injunction against the sale of Liverpool football club to NESV.

• Hicks and Gillett have called the attempted sale an "epic swindle". =

• There are claims the attempted sale to NESV was well below the market value of Liverpool.

• Hicks and Gillett are claiming $1.6bn in damages against the three Liverpool board members, NESV and RBS.

• The pair have accused RBS of a "grand conspiracy".

• Hicks has claimed he received a letter of interest from a third potential purchaser represented by FBR Capital Markets on 4 October 2010 offering to purchase Liverpool FC for £375 to £400m.

• It is claimed another offer was also made in the £350m-400m range in August and that Martin Broughton never responded to this offer.

10.15pm: Owen Gibson has passed on the following report about the latest classy move by Hicks & Gillett. It's a long read, but it's worth it.

The owners of Liverpool Football Club today reported that a Texas State District Court has granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) enjoining the Board of Liverpool Football Club (LFC) from executing a sale of the Club to New England Sports Ventures (NESV). The court set a hearing date of October 25, 2010. The TRO request, signed by Judge Jim Jordan of the 160th District Court in Dallas, was part of a lawsuit filed today by the owners of LFC against Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Martin Broughton, Christian Purslow, Ian Ayre, NESV and Philip Nash. The lawsuit also seeks temporary and permanent injunctions, and damages totaling approximately $1.6 billion (over £1 billion). The suit lays out the defendants' "epic swindle" in which they conspired to devise and execute a scheme to sell LFC to NESV at a price they know to be hundreds of millions of dollars below true market value (and well below Forbes magazine's recent independent $822 million valuation of the club) - and below multiple expressions of interest and offers to buy either the club in its entirety or make minority investments (including Meriton and Mill Financial). It describes how the defendants excluded the owners from meetings, discussions and communications regarding the potential sale to NESV and interfered with efforts by the owners to obtain financing for Liverpool FC. The Club's owners are represented by attorneys from the international law firm of Fish & Richardson. The following are some of the key points in the complaint, which details the roles of RBS and the other defendants, and also describes previously undisclosed offers to purchase LFC: "The Director Defendants were acting merely as pawns of RBS, wholly abdicating the fiduciary responsibilities that they owed in the sale." "RBS has been complicit in this scheme with the Director Defendants. For example, in letters from RBS to potential investors obtained just within the past few days, RBS has informed investors that it will approve of a deal only if there is "no economic return to equity" for Messrs. Hicks and Gillett. In furtherance of this grand conspiracy, on information and belief, RBS has improperly used its influence as the club's creditor and as a worldwide banking leader to prevent any transaction that would permit Messrs. Hicks and Gillett to recover any of their initial investment in the club, much less share in the substantial appreciation in the value of Liverpool FC that their investments have created." "On or about October 4, 2010, Mr. Hicks received a letter of interest from a third potential purchaser represented by FBR Capital Markets ("FBR"), offering to purchase Liverpool FC for £375 to £400 million ($595 to $635 million). The letter informed Mr. Hicks that the potential purchaser would not need financing, possessed the funds to close the transaction, and intended to build a new stadium for Liverpool FC." "Additionally, the Plaintiffs learned just days ago about another potential investor that made a similar offer in the £350 to £400 million range that was communicated to Defendant Broughton and another unnamed co-conspirator in late August. According to this investor, Mr. Broughton never responded to the offer. Moreover, when the purported sale to NESV was announced, this investor again contacted Mr. Broughton and informed him that the offer, which significantly exceeded the NESV offer, was still on the table. Again, Mr. Broughton brushed this offer aside without further discussion."

10.09pm: Forty minutes ago we were expecting an announcement on the ownership of the club. This is just incredible. Our man on the scene, Owen Gibson, is trying to find out more.

10.06pm: The big question that everyone is asking right now is precisely what jurisdiction does this Texas court have over the sale of the club?

10pm: Further to this story about a Texas court issuing an injunction on the sale of the club, Owen Gibson writes that Hicks and Gillett are claiming $1.6bn in damages.

9.58pm: Are Hicks and Gillett making life difficult? Are they ever. News reaches us that a Texas court has issued a restraining order on the sale of the club, calling it an "epic swindle".

9.55pm: "Are Hicks and Gillett making it difficult?" asks Alex McGibbon. "Well duh!" In a way, I kind of admire their sheer gumption. Talk about not taking a hint.

9.52pm: Below the line, scall writes: "Surely this statement is wrong "this has still been a remarkably depressing week for English football" as i think it is a first step in getting football back to where it should be." I essentially agree with you, but I still find it depressing that it really has come to this, that this is what's required to sort out a football club.

9.50pm: Hmmm. This is going very slowly. After it seemed an announcement was imminent, the board meeting is still going on. What's the hold up? Are Hicks and Gillett making it difficult?

9.40pm: "Actually i'm rather glad the future wasn't decided on the pitch," parps Dai Smout.

9.38pm: Dan Roan on Twitter: "Liverpool's communications advisor Craig Breheny has arrived at board meeting - suggests statement now imminent."

9.26pm: Regardless of Hicks and Gillett losing their case, this has still been a remarkably depressing week for English football. A club's future played out in the courts rather than on the pitch.

9.21pm: The feeling is that an announcement is imminent. Cars have turned up outside the Slaughter and May offices and the engines have been left running, a sign that the participants in the board meeting are about to emerge.

9.14pm: Apologies, I've just been off doing some odd jobs for the newspaper. I did say that might happen. But nothing's actually happening at the moment - the board meeting is still ongoing and there's no indication of when it will finish. To repeat, however, the big news from the evening so far, Liverpool's prospective John W Henry unexpectedly turned up to the meeting, and his attempted takeover is widely expected to go ahead tonight. For now, we play the waiting game.

8.56pm: The Guardian's sports news correspondent Owen Gibson, on the ball as usual, has emailed to clear up the presence of Keith Edelman at the meeting: "Keith Edelman has been involved in the process as an advisor to RBS for some time - he will be at the board meeting in that capacity." So there we go.

8.52pm: So, where next for Hicks and Gillett? The wonders of Photoshop, eh?

8.46pm: Here's Dan Roan on Twitter: "All we need now is for Messrs Hicks, Gillett and Lim to turn up at Slaugher & May's offices - it could get nasty."

John W Henry is at the Liverpool board meeting tonight. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

8.37pm: As John W Henry strode into the building, Sky Sports News reporter Bryan Swanson asked him how confident he was about the takeover. "Pretty confident," replied Henry. "And how do you feel about owning Liverpool?" Swanson pressed. Thumbs up from Henry.

8.35pm: "I'm a corporate lawyer, and I should start off by saying that I haven't seen any of the documents in this legal battle," writes Sam Kessler. "From what I've seen in the press, my instinct is that Gillett and Hicks would only have a claim against the Liverpool board to the extent they have acted outside of their powers, or if they have breached the terms of a contract to which G&H were a party, or if they have not acted in the best interests of the company for the benefit of its shareholders (and - significantly here - bearing in mind the company's creditors, given that the company is on the verge of an administration if G&H don't pay off their RBS loan by Friday). Judging from the decision today by Mr Justice Floyd, it looks like the first and third possibilities are non-starters. I wonder if anyone can shed any light on what the terms of their agreement with LFC and RBS say?"

8.32pm: Louise Martin of Radio City in Liverpool has sent me this message on Twitter: "We're getting the thumbs up from fans (literally on Facebook) on the latest Henry news."

8.26pm: Although Henry is at the meeting, earlier Martin Broughton admitted that he needed to take legal advice to determine whether he is obliged to accept the higher offer for Liverpool from the Singapore businessman Peter Lim. There have been so many twists and turns in this story over the last week or so that it would take a brave man to categorically predict how this one is going to end up.

8.20pm: Sky Sports News are now repeatedly showing footage of John W Henry walking into the meeting.

8.15pm: There are reports on the Liverpool Echo's Neil Jones on Twitter that the former Arsenal director, Keith Edelman, has also turned up at the meeting. Edelman had a big hand in the development of Arsenal's Emirates Stadium and, of course, Liverpool are in dire need of a new stadium.

8.11pm: The football world is still turning on its axis despite the Liverpool developments. "Eyes peeled on that front door," says Sky Sports News Man. "Now then, Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey is back in training..."

8.08pm: The fact that John W Henry is at the Liverpool board meeting tonight surely indicates his mooted takeover will go ahead.

8.04pm: Ben Smith of The Times tweets: "So @John_W_Henry turns up at tonight's #LFC board meeting ... will Peter Lim be next to arrive?"

8.02pm: John W Henry was not expected to be at this board meeting, so this is a highly significant development on a highly significant day.

8pm: BREAKING NEWS - NESV's John W Henry has arrived at the Liverpool board meeting at Slaughter and May offices. That binding agreement they have must be pretty binding.

7.57pm: Reporters and news cameras are waiting outside the offices where the board meeting is being held in London.

7.50pm: Not long now until the highly anticipated board meeting. The "reconstituted" Liverpool board, meeting here in London will be:

•...ratifying the decision to sell Liverpool FC to John W Henry and New England Sports Ventures for £300m.

• NESV says it has a "binding agreement in place" to buy the football club.

• However Singapore businessman Peter Lim is still pursuing his rival bid for Liverpool. He urged the board to "not simply ratify a sale to NESV" after he unveiled a £320m offer yesterday.

More when we know more.

7.36pm: Jon Saraceno of USA Today has been on Sky Sports News, and he says the concern for sports fans in the US will be whether John W Henry's use of funds at Liverpool will have implications for the Boston Red Sox. However, Saraceno said, Henry is a shrewd businessman and there should be no prospect of that happening.

7.33pm: Here's David Conn's blog about Martin Broughton's role in this saga.

Throughout the grim course since the 1990s of English football clubs being bought by "owners" for personal enrichment, contrary to the game's time-honoured tradition that directors should be "custodians", none have been served with the wallop meted out today to Tom Hicks and George Gillett. Beaming on the steps of the high court, Liverpool's chairman, Martin Broughton, declaring himself "delighted", said: "Justice has been done." He repeated what he has said for a week, that the club's American owners committed "flagrant abuses of undertakings" when they tried to sack Christian Purslow, Liverpool's managing director, and Ian Ayre, the commercial director, and oppose the board's agreed sale to New England Sports Ventures. Broughton said the fact the judge, Mr Justice Floyd, agreed, ruling that Hicks and Gillett committed "the clearest possible breach" of their agreement with Royal Bank of Scotland, had won Broughton, Purslow and Ayre their case. The chairman emphasised again how damaging the Americans' "leveraged [debt-based] buyout" had been for the club Hicks and Gillett bought in February 2007 with £185m borrowed from Royal Bank of Scotland – repayable in only 12 months – then loaded on the club to service. The offers, from NESV, owners of the Boston Red Sox, and the Singapore businessman Peter Lim, both proposed repaying RBS that debt, since refinanced for a series of further short periods, now up to £200m. "The vital thing is that all the offers have wiped out all the acquisition debt," Broughton said. "That puts the club on a sound financial footing."

7.30pm: "I have just have seen the picture of the victorious Christian Purslow and Martin Broughton - flanked by the Guardian's Owen Gibson – as the caption helpfully points out," writes Khalid Majid. "I was wondering, given the physical proximity of the Guardian's man to the triumphant duo, whether there has been any temptation on Owen's part to ape the BBC's John Simpson re liberating Kabul and declare: 'It was the Guardian who liberated Liverpool from the depths of unsustainable, imperialist debt'."

We like to think we've done our bit, Khalid. Spirit of Shankly? Pah!

7pm: We're now roughly one hour away from the Liverpool board meeting, where directors will be discussing the future ownership of the club.

6.46pm: Here's an email about John W Henry from Brad Reed. "I don't know how many Yanks you've heard from on this, but just in case, I thought I'd write to reassure the scousers out there. I understand - even empathize - with the desire to find a deep-pocketed sheik or Russian oil billionaire to buy the club from the greedy idiots that have been running it. However, as a Red Sox fan, I attest that one could do much worse than John Henry and NESV. If they get the club, I think they will do well by Liverpool. They will want to make money, but they want to do it by building the club. They did wonders with Fenway (albeit at the cost of expensive ticket prices), and they brought a title to a Red Sox nation that hadn't seen one since 1918."

Well, you'd hope that NESV can't be as bad as Hicks and Gillett.

6.08pm: Legal experts are suggesting that while Tom Hicks and George Gillett would probably be wasting their time with an appeal against the high court judgement, they could yet claim for damages against Liverpool, according to the sports lawyer Andrew Lewis.

The judge made it clear that he thinks any appeal would be inappropriate so, while it remains an option, Hicks and Gillett's more realistic option is a claim for damages.They may argue they have sustained losses as a result of the board's actions and believe Liverpool to be more valuable than £300m. That would give Hicks and Gillett time to get their house in order. They will still lose the football club but if they are going to recoup some money, which is the most important objective for them, that might be the way to go. I don't expect them to let this lie. However the verdict is a significant victory for Liverpool. The court has effectively ruled that Hicks and Gillett are not entitled to stand in the way of any sale by the Liverpool board.

6.02pm: Jamie Carragher says that Liverpool's players can have no excuses for their form on the pitch, despite the ownership issues. Speaking to TalkSport, the defender had the following to say on the boardroom shenanigans and this weekend's Merseyside derby.

We have changed the manager, we have changed the board and if things don't change now then the players will go too. Everything else has changed, it is just the players who have stayed the same. I hope we can look forward now. I don't think the protests have affected things too much, because the protests and marches were usually before or after games. The atmosphere has not been great at Anfield recently because the performances have not been that great. But a lot of supporters will be delighted with the outcome today. I am sure that will give us a feel-good factor and we hope that will help us.

5.38pm: Evening all. I'll be carrying on this live blog for the next few hours or so, but as I have various other jobs to do tonight, the updates will be sporadic at best. The main focus is, as Steve points out below, the Liverpool board meeting at 8pm, where we'll hopefully be told whether the NESV takeover bid receives the green light. You can email me here or tweet me here.

5.23pm: My colleague Jacob Steinberg will be taking over this blog for the evening. He has other jobs to do too, but he will post major updates.

The Liverpool board meeting is due to start at 8pm. We will hopefully be told if that meeting ratifies the NESV takeover bid. There may or may not also be updates on whether Hicks and Gillett will attempt to appeal against today's court ruling.

Thank you for reading, commenting, emailing, tweeting today.

4.50pm:Time to recap today's events:

• Judge rules against Hicks & Gillett, saying that they did not have the right to oust the board. Mr Justice Floyd ruled that Hicks and Gillett have "no absolute right to veto a sale" and said he didn't want to issue a ruling that could "damage" the Boston bid.

• The "reconstituted" board of Liverpool FC will meet tonight, in London, from 8pm, to decide next move, which is expected to be....

•...ratifying the decision to sell Liverpool FC to John W Henry and New England Sports Ventures for £300m.

• NESV says it has a "binding agreement in place" to buy the football club.

• But Singapore businessman Peter Lim is still pursuing his rival bid for Liverpool. He urged the board to "not simply ratify a sale to NESV" after he unveiled a £320m offer yesterday.

• Royal Bank of Scotland - which had set a deadline of Friday for the repayments of the club's debts - said "RBS has every confidence...the board will now reach appropriate decisions regarding the next steps".

• Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton said: "We will have a board meeting this evening and proceed with the sale process. I'm not going to prejudge the board meeting...But the club's going to have a great future. ... We will get the right owners for the fans."

• The judge said it would be "inappropriate" for Hicks and Gillett to appeal. The owners will also have to pay legal costs of up to 500,000 pounds.

• But H&G may go directly to the court of appeal. Such a move would be unlikely to be able to stop a sale, but might become a case for damages.

• During the case it was also revealed that American hedge fund Mill Financial has put in a bid that also pledges to wipe out the club's debts and would provide up to £100 million pounds to fund a new stadium. Mill Financial technically controls Gillett's 50 percent stake after he defaulted on the loan used by Gillett to fund his part of the leveraged takeover in 2007.

And, as Paul Kelso tweets: "Atmosphere in #LFC board meeting could be interesting: "Hi Tom, it's Martin..."

3.55pm: Talking to legal experts, the feeling seems to be that H&G probably will try to get the appeal court to hear them. But if the LFC/NESV talks are concluded and the deal is done, an appeal court ruling won't be able to unpick that deal. It might become a case for damages, though. H&G could potentially hope for £100m damages, but would be very unlikely to get them.

Lawyer (and Liverpool fan) Damian McPhun emails: "In order for any appeal to succeed, H&G will need to demonstrate that the verdict of the judge at first instance (i.e. Justice Floyd) was "wrong". In reality this means they will need to show that the verdict was not within the reasonable spectrum of decisions that could be made about the case. The mere fact that an Appeal judge might have come to a different opinion is not the determining factor - the Court of Appeal won't interfere unless a verdict is obviously wrong. Even to get permission to appeal H&G will need to show that an appeal would have reasonable prospects of success - not a formality in this case."

3.49pm: LFC board meeting that will decide future of club will take place at Slaughter&May's London offices at 8pm - media scrum already in place, tweets @danroan.

3.15pm: Andy Thornley filmed the scenes outside the High Court earlier today.

There is also this Guardian film of the singing and the post-verdict interviews.

2.58pm: Royal Bank of Scotland statement:

Today's judgment vindicates the actions RBS has taken to ensure that decisions concerning the future of Liverpool Football Club are made by a properly constituted Board acting in the Club's best interests. RBS has every confidence that having been put on a proper footing, the Board will now reach appropriate decisions regarding the next steps.

2.34pm: I've had a lot of emails and comments below the line about Anthony O Connell's email (10.35am) which said: "Is it just me or is there no future for courtroom MBM, they are seriously long and boring a bit like a cricket match." I'd just like say that I think Anthony was teasing. But thank you to you all for your thanks and compliments for our work over the last couple of days. It is nice to be appreciated.

But it's not over yet...

2.27pm: Long-time Liverpool supporter, and the man who brought Lady In Red to the world, Chris de Burgh, says: "I'm delighted by the Judges decision in the high court action involving Liverpool Football Club. In spite of what may have been the best intentions Hicks & Gillett have been catastrophic for the club, they've been like unwanted houseguests who overstayed their welcome. So with this sorry saga behind us, it's time for the club and it's millions of supporters to move on, hopefully to a brave new beginning and put Liverpool Football club back where it rightfully belongs, at the top of the Premier League."

Entirely coincidentally, Chris has a new album out next week which will be exclusively available at Asda.

2.13pm: So, beyond that NESV statement, how have the events at the High Court been playing out in America?

Boston.com reports that John W Henry spent 90 minutes yesterday afternoon in the Phoenix Landing pub in Cambridge (US), which is apparently "a haven for supporters of Liverpool FC". He left when a British TV crew appeared. (Thanks for that link to Vin Miles).

Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox MLB site reported at the end of last week: "The owners of the Red Sox have successfully acquired a new endeavor. New England Sports Ventures, a group headed by John Henry and Tom Werner, learned Friday that the English Premier League has approved their $476 million bid to purchase the Liverpool franchise." (Phil Unsworth emailed that link in, with hopes that the "Americanisms" will not creep in at Anfield)

2.08pm: New England Sports Ventures has released a statement saying that it has a "binding agreement" to buy Liverpool. Full statement:

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. We are ready to move quickly and help create the stability and certainty which the Club needs at this time. It is time to return the focus to the Club itself and performances on the pitch.

2.04pm: Singapore billionaire Peter Lim, who yesterday put in a £320m bid for Liverpool FC, says today:

I welcome the decision of the Court. The way is now clear for the Board to sell the Club. I have delivered my Offer to the Board and believe that my ownership represents the best option for the future of the Club and it's supporters. I hope that when the Board is reconstituted tonight that it will not simply ratify a sale to NESV but will consider all the Offers before them. I am asking the Board to run a full and fair process that enables all of the Offers to be considered on their merits before the future of the Club is decided.

1.58pm: "Lim welcomes judgment and calls on reconstituted #LFC board to consider his new, improved offer rather than simply rubber stamping NESV's," tweets Owen Gibson.

1.53pm: post-verdict Q&A with Martin Broughton, carried in full by SportingIntelligence:

Q. Will NESV own the club by tomorrow?

A. There's a board meeting this evening, hopefully to determine whether or not that is the case.

Q. Do you have a duty to consider any of the other bids that have come in that may be higher?

A. We will take legal advice on this.

Q. Do you expect the owners to take part in this?

A. I would expect they will. They will certainly be invited as they were last time. I have no reason to believe they will not be there.

Q. If there is an appeal next week will that affect the process?

A. We will take legal advice on that.

Scouse Humour Photomontage by Andy

1.30pm: Probably the best...

1.12pm: Graham Sharpe gives the bookies view: "William Hill betting on who takes over Liverpool - NESV 1/10 favs with Peter Lim's Meriton 6/1 and Mill Financial 14/1 outsiders."

12.43pm: Some legal opinions:

Andrew Nixon, Associate at Thomas Eggar LLP, said:

This ruling means that there will be no need for Mr Broughton and the board to bring their own declaratory proceedings seeking an Order that they are entitled to push ahead with the deal.

Hicks and Gillett do have a right to appeal the ruling against them and given the amount of cash they are set to lose on a sale to NESV, they are likely to do so. Should they decide to take that option, then there will be further delay. If an appeal is launched then RBS may extend the loan deadline. Regardless of Justice Floyd's assertion in this morning's judgment that it would be "inappropriate" to appeal it seems likely that there is still considerable mileage in this case.

Gerald Krasner, Partner at insolvency and recovery specialist Begbies Traynor and former Chairman of Leeds United Football Club (before selling to Ken Bates in 2005), said:

This morning's announcement means that the possibility of Administration is now highly unlikely and the smart money is on the deal with NESV now going through. Even though there are obviously other parties now looking to muscle in, the chances of them being able to usurp John Henry's bid are remote although, if Hicks and Gillett look to appeal against today's ruling, that will delay things somewhat.

12.24pm: NESV boss and prospective LFC owner John W Henry tweets this morning: "Well done Martin, Christian & Ian. Well done RBS. Well done supporters!"

Yesterday he also tweeted this: "One question I can answer: Who are we? http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?c_id=bos&content_id=12766377&tcid=fb_video_12766377"

12.18pm: My colleague Gregg Roughley (yes, a Liverpool fan) says: "Liverpool fans might enjoy knowing that on Margaret Thatcher's 85th birthday she'll be watching nothing but celebrating scousers and miners all day on TV."

12.13pm: The Liverpool Echo has tweeted a nice picture of a very pleased Christian Purslow.

Meanwhile, our new picture at the top of this blog, similarly portrays the happy board emerging from court. And on their right, getting as close to the news as possible, is our man Owen Gibson.

12.01pm: An appeal is not being ruled out yet by Hicks and Gillett, says Keith Oliver, a senior partner with solicitors Peters & Peters, who are acting for the Liverpool owners.

Mr Oliver said:

We are obviously disappointed with the judge's decision. Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett will now be considering their next steps, and that will include whether to make an application to the court of appeal.

11.56am: Lord Grabiner QC, who represented the board, put the costs of the case at between £250,000 and £500,000.

11.55am: There were chaotic scenes outside the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand, reports PA, when more than 100 Liverpool fans mobbed club chairman Martin Broughton, singing: "We love you, Martin, we do."

Security guards tried and failed to move the crowd blocking the entrance as they broke into You'll Never Walk Alone.

Martin Broughton Photograph: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

11.51am: More from the chairman: Broughton described himself as "elated" with the result but stopped short of saying that the club will definitely be sold to John Henry's New England Sports Ventures, reports the Press Association.

He told Sky Sports News:

I am absolutely elated, it's a very important day for our club. 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. I want to thank the fans for their support through a difficult time. We hope to have the board meeting this evening. We will get the right owners for the fans. It was an excellent outcome and I will be very pleased when the process we came in to do is completed.

11.43am: So, while we have the verdict, this live blog will need to keep going for the rest of the day:

• Despite the Judge telling H&G that an appeal would be "inappropriate", the owners could still try for an appeal at the court of appeal

• A board meeting will be held by 8pm to try to see through the sale to New England Sports Ventures

11.28am: Martin Broughton outside court:

Justice has been done. We will now continue with the sale process. We will have a board meeting tonight and the owners will certainly be invited.

Christian Purslow: "This is a great day for the club and will hopefully allow Liverpool to concentrate on football for the next ten years.

11.22am: Mr Justice Floyd has declined to grant an appeal. The judge said it would be inappropriate in the circumstances for him to grant leave. He said that if Hicks and Gillett are determined to appeal, they would have to apply to the appeal court for permission.

11.11am: Judge tells Hicks and Gillett it would be "inappropriate" to appeal. But that route does still remain open, although it is unclear what it could achieve with a board meeting by 8pm tonight.

Sachin says that the Liverpool/RBS barristers are now being cheered by the crowd outside.

11.07am: We will be fleshing out more detail of the court ruling over the next few hours. The judge seems to be allowing a breakneck speed to the sale process, which is what RBS and the board wanted. Will H&G appeal? Have they time to? Even if they do, can it halt the sale? Will NESV wish to proceed if new litigation is hanging? Lots of questions, hopefully some answers in the coming hours....

11.05am: The board also want court costs paid by H&G.

11.04am: Judge rules that owners should pay RBS costs.

11.02am: Broughton wants a board meeting by 8pm today to sort out the sale and there is a dispute over whether the owners will be able to communicate via phone. The owners' QC is asking for the meeting to take place at ten o'clock tomorrow. Judge rules that it should be at 8 today.

11.01am: RBS want the owners to cover their court costs. Wonder how much they are?

10.59am: More detail:

The high court today granted injunctions that could open the way for the prompt sale of Liverpool.

The club's owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett asked a judge to delay the hearing of an application by creditors Royal Bank of Scotland for mandatory orders paving the way for a possible sale this week. But the plea was rejected by Mr Justice

At RBS's request, the judge imposed injunctions on the two men requiring them to restore the original constitutions of the companies and managing directors.

This removes the final stumbling block to a £300m takeover by New England Sports Ventures which will see the RBS recoup its original £237m loan to Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett when they bought the club in March 2007.

10.54am: Judge throws out attempt by owners to have interim injunction put on board.

10.50am: The injunction means the board is reconstituted with Purslow and Ayre back in place and Broughton allowed to see through the sale, reports Sachin Nakrani

10.49am: Mr Justice Floyd: "The owners do not have an absolute right to veto a sale."

10.43am: Judge rules against H&G, which means NESV deal can proceed. We will try and flesh out the details and ramifications...

10.42am: JUDGE RULES MANDATORY INJUNCTION WANTED BY RBS AGAINST OWNERS IS GRANTED: SALE CAN GO AHEAD

10.35am: Anthony O Connell emails to say: "Is it just me or is there no future for courtroom MBM, they are seriously long and boring a bit like a cricket match. On a more serious note as a Liverpool fan this could be a big day for football in general as Liverpool are the first truly big club to go through this process and it shows exactly what could happen at various other clubs particularly Man Utd should debt default raise its head in other clubs."

10.28am: While we continue to wait for Mr Justice Floyd's judgment, (which, experience tells me will be long and complicated), I just need to tell you that we have had to turn off the autorefresh component of this page because there are so many readers. So you will need to hit refresh or F5 to update the page.

10.16am: While we await word from court, here's yesterday's recap of the basic positions argued by the main parties:

RBS says owners have contradicted rules of sales agreement by trying to oust two members of the board and there should be a mandatory injunction imposed by the court to make sure the board is reinstated.

G&H admit they have breached sales agreement but say they only did it because the board excluded them from the sales agreement and refused to take into account stronger alternative bids to NESV. As a result, they dispute the injunction claim.

The Board disputes the claim that the owners were excluded from the sales agreement and says that instead the owners simply refused to take part. It also insists the NESV bid was the strongest on the table after a thorough process to find a buyer for the club.

Mr Justice Floyd: What will he say? Picture: Gary Lee/UPPA

10.05am: Mr Justice Floyd has arrived...

10.03am: A moment of lightness before the serious stuff: the public gallery is so overcrowded that two fans are asked to leave. "Can we appeal?" they ask.

The clark of court says no.

9.59am: Broughton, Purslow and Ayre are all in court. Mr Justice Floyd has not yet arrived though....

9.53am: Something cheerful for Liverpool fans to contemplate. The post-Hicks Texas Rangers won their first ever post-season series last night, to reach the American League Championship Series. If they beat the Yankees they will play in the World Series. There is life after Tom Hicks. And whatever happens over the coming minutes, hours, days, Hicks is fairly certainly going, that much was clear from court last night.

Sure this will be enjoyed on the liverpoolfc.tv fans forum thread: Any baseball fans?

9.47am: The case has moved to court 18 today. Sachin Nakrani says it's a packed room again, standing room only, not helped by the fact that this room is smaller than yesterday's court 16.

9.42am: As Paul Kelso says, today is very unlikely to bring an end to this saga:

Whoever loses is certain to appeal. Hicks and Gillett have launched their own counter-suit against RBS and the board, while Broughton and the club have begun proceedings for a separate declaratory judgment approving the sale to NESV. Meanwhile the three potential buyers - NESV, Peter Lim and Mill Financial - could seek damages if their ambition to control Liverpool is frustrated.

9.24am: Sports news correspondent Owen Gibson tweets from The Strand: "Back to High Court for #LFC judgment day. But legal frenzy unlikely to end here, whatever the result. Big winner? The lawyers, of course."

9.10am: Here's Barney Ronay on the atmosphere inside the high court yesterday. One imagines it will be pretty tense there this morning. It is unclear how long the judgement will take, these things can go on. And on. Or not. Sorry I can't be any clearer. But, just again to say, the judgement could come by 10am.

If you have read other interesting pieces about what happened yesterday and what may happen today and beyond, please email/tweet/post comments with links. Thanks

Dirk Kuyt: out until the new year? Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Action Images

9.07am: As if things weren't complicated enough for Liverpool off-the-pitch, Dirk Kuyt's injury last night won't help either.

9.02am: After much discussion yesterday over the various bidders that were discussed in court, Owen Gibson produced this handy guide to "Who's who in the battle to own Liverpool FC". Although there is still much to be revealed about the bidders that H&G highlighted as rivals to the one accepted by the board, NESV.

8.54am: Good morning, Steve here. We think the verdict might come as early as 10am today. We will again have Sachin Nakrani nipping in and out of court to give us updates and Owen Gibson catching all the courtroom drama. David Conn will give us more analysis.

8.35am: Good morning, Steve will be here shortly. In the meantime, here's an extract from David Conn's blog on the proceedings yesterday: