THE mystery surrounding the disappearance of Huddersfield Town’s centre spot plaque has been solved.

The Examiner reported yesterday how the metal plaque was feared to have been stolen.

But it turns out the plaque may have been sat in an office in the John Smith’s Stadium all the time!

The commemorative plaque was placed in the car park of the Leeds Road Retail Park as a lasting reminder of Town’s historic Leeds Road ground.

It marked exactly the centre spot of the old pitch.

The Examiner was contacted by puzzled Town and Giants fan Martin Horner, 53, of Bradley, who told how he ‘rescued’ the plaque on the weekend of Town’s play-off victory at Wembley in May.

Martin and son Christopher, 26, were on their way to the off-licence on the Sunday – the day the Giants played Salford in the Magic Weekend – when they spotted that the plaque had been tampered with.

Martin said: “Christopher lives in Town Avenue and I always like to walk past the plaque.

“When we got up to it we saw that someone had had a go at it. It looked like it had been ripped up ready to be pinched.

“So we picked it up and took it to Christopher’s overnight for safekeeping.”

The following day – when Town had a bus parade with the play-off trophy – the plaque was handed in to the stadium reception.

“That was the last we heard about it until we saw the story in the Examiner,” said Martin.

Town knew nothing about the disappearance or whereabouts of the plaque.

But inquiries with Kirklees Stadium Development Ltd (KSDL) resulted in the mystery being solved – well almost.

Gareth Davies, managing director of KSDL, said the plaque was safe in the office of the stadium manager Phil Armitage.

He said it was his understanding that KSDL had had the plaque for “no longer than a couple of weeks” but talks were taking place with Kirklees Council over its future.

The plaque’s fixings had been damaged and would need to be repaired before it could be replaced, he said.

The plaque was stolen in August 2000 but returned after an appeal in the Examiner.

It was replaced the following year.