The change of ownership is expected to take place in early February if legal agreements and Football League ratification go through. The club was put up for sale in 2013 to help take the club further forward. Last autumn the mystery benefactor investing in the club during its dramatic rise from the Conference up to League 1 and 2 was revealed to be Thailand-based businessman Paul Hayward. However the ownership of the club is divided between director Matt Turner and chairman Dave Pottinger. A statement released by Crawley Town said: “Crawley Town FC can today announce that they are close to completing an agreement with an overseas-based consortium who have agreed to take over the ownership of the club. “Subject to the ratification of legal agreements and Football League approval being granted, the club hope to be finalise the takeover early next month. “Discussions with the preferred consortium have been underway since October and the board firmly believe that they can take the club forward.” The club added no further comment until the takeover is completed. Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live. Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on. 1 Make this website your homepage 2 Like our Facebook page at facebook.com/pages/Sport-Sussex 3 Follow us on Twitter @SportSussex 4 Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here. And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!