New owner John W Henry said he was "proud and humbled" by the responsibility of taking on the club, and stressed a priority would be to develop a winning team.

The shadow of former owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett still hangs over the club despite their defeat in a legal battle to stop the takeover - and they are promising to sue for more than £1billion.

For most Liverpool fans, just the confirmation that the hugely unpopular three-and-a-half-year reign at the club is over is cause to pop the champagne corks.

NESV, also owners of Boston Red Sox, said the club's debt servicing costs - Hicks and Gillett had owed £280million to the Royal Bank of Scotland - would drop from £30million a year to £2million-£3million.

Henry, the principal owner of NESV, said: "On behalf of the entire NESV partnership, I want to express how incredibly proud and humbled we are to be confirmed as the new owners of Liverpool FC.

"We regard our role as that of stewards for the club with a primary focus on returning the club to greatness on and off the field for the long-term.

"We are committed first and foremost to winning. We have a history of winning, and today we want LFC supporters to know that this approach is what we intend to bring to this great club."

Henry will not attend Sunday's Merseyside derby away to Everton, and said: "I think it's better for our first experience with the supporters to be at home."

That leaves the October 24 match against Blackburn as his likely first appearance at a Premier League match, by which time he will have begun getting to grips with his new responsibilities.

He did confirm that the takeover was not leveraged on debt but said it was too early to talk about plans for a new stadium.

Henry told reporters: "It's too early to say what we're going to do but we're here to win, we have a tradition of winning - we (the Boston Red Sox) are the second-highest spending club in Major League Baseball and we're here to win, we will do whatever is necessary.

"We're not going to have a lot to say, our actions will hopefully speak for us."

Liverpool's independent chairman Martin Broughton said NESV had been chosen by the board as the best new owners.

Reflecting on a dramatic week in and out of court, Broughton added: "As every Liverpool fan knows, the most nerve-wracking way to win a match is on a penalty shoot-out.

"But in the end, as long as you get the right result, it's worth the wait. We got the right result.

"It's been pretty stressful but I think we've been confident all the way through that we would get there. We've always known we were doing the right things, that we would get justice, and I think exactly what we got in the end was justice.

"This is a good deal which comprehensively resolves the pressing issue of the club's debt and should give staff, players and fans great confidence regarding the future of Liverpool FC."

Broughton also confirmed he would stay on in "a transitional role" for the early stages of Henry's stewardship of the club.

Spirit of Shankly, the fans' group who have been among the biggest critics of Hicks and Gillett, welcomed Henry's reign with cautious optimism.

James McKenna, a spokesman for the group, told Sky Sports News: "Hopefully this is the start of a bright future. We certainly welcome the new owners but they've got to come in and prove they can do the job.

"Liverpool FC have needed stability ever since Hicks and Gillett came in with their broken promises and lies. We need a period of stability and to get back to our old ways.

"Liverpool FC doesn't need a Sheikh Mansour or a Roman Abramovich to compete in the transfer market, we generate enough money that has, for the last three years, been used to pay debt."

Hicks and Gillett have however threatened to launch another legal action which could prove destabilising.

A statement from Hicks' and Gillett's New York representatives announced they were suing over "an extraordinary swindle".

Steve Stodghill, the Texas lawyer representing the duo, said: "This outcome not only devalues the club but it also will result in long-term uncertainty for the fans, players and everyone who loves this sport because all legal recourses will be pursued.

"Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett pledged to pay the debt to RBS so that the club could avoid administration that was threatened by RBS. That offer was rejected.

"It is a tragic development that others will claim as a victory. This means it won't be resolved the way it should be resolved."