Ex-Liverpool owner Hicks sued by US club

Former Liverpool FC co-owner Tom Hicks is being sued by a group of former investors in the Texas Rangers, saying he used the major league baseball club to enrich himself at the team’s expense while he was the owner.

In a suit filed in state court in Dallas, attorneys for the Rangers partnership under bankruptcy administrator Alan Jacobs say Hicks ignored team obligations and bought land for parking lots and roads to build “a real estate empire on the backs of the Texas Rangers’ players and creditors and fans”.

The suit alleges the Rangers were left insolvent “without sufficient money to field a competitive baseball team”.

A spokeswoman for Hicks’ company called the allegations “absolutely untrue”.

The Rangers emerged from bankruptcy last year with new ownership, which is not involved in the suit.

Hicks lost control of Liverpool in October last year when the club was sold to New England Sports Ventures.