LEEDS United officials have stunned their Huddersfield Town counterparts – by asking them to pay a hotel bill!

They want the Galpharm club to pay their £1,100 bill from last Saturday – which they claim was essential to avoid their players making a 13-mile drive.

Town, of course, won the game 1-0 in front of a crowd of 20, 928.

Huddersfield Town chief executive Nigel Clibbens today responded with a wry smile at Leeds United’s attempts to beat the recession and gain something from a fruitless trip down the M62 last week.

Clibbens said: “We were very surprised to receive a letter yesterday asking for us to pay Leeds’ hotel expenses last week.

“Having left empty-handed from the game, Leeds are now asking for Huddersfield’s help to pay their bills!

“Leeds have told us that the 12.00pm kick-off had ‘necessitated’ an overnight stay because their players ‘would have been leaving home at an unreasonable hour in terms of match preparation time.’

“Therefore, under Football League regulations, we should pay.

“We did a lot of planning to make sure the fixture went well, which from Town’s point of view could not have been better, but, clearly, we didn’t take account of travel time along the M62 or Leeds’ need for extra time in bed on Saturday morning!

“I am sure our fans would want us to help Leeds out where we can, but we will continue to invest in our own players and future as the key priority.”

Hundreds of fans in the huge crowd drove far longer distances to get to the match, which kicked off at noon on the advice of West Yorkshire Police.

And one fan said: “You have to concede that many of the Leeds players will drive much further each day of the week, as their training ground is at Thorp Arch, near Wetherby.”

Clibbens added: “Leeds’ claim is as sad as it is laughable, but cannot be dismissed as they intend to deduct the cash from what they owe us from match ticket sales.

“We are awaiting further assistance from the Football League, which is being wholly supportive of us. The behaviour of Leeds is clearly against both the letter of the regulations and more importantly the spirit of the game and does nothing for Leeds’ reputation at all.”

League regulations state that away clubs shall pay for hotel bills unless a kick-off is at noon or earlier.

But Town officials argue that is irrelevant when the distance between the two grounds is only 13 miles.

Leeds, headed by flamboyant chairman Ken Bates, released a statement on their website, saying it was for the travelling club to decide how to prepare for a match.

“The process will be dealt with by the Football League and we will pass no further comment so as not to prejudice the outcome.

“We believe the public release of this dispute by Huddersfield is designed to gain favour among their supporters.”

They also claimed that there had been complaints about the PA announcer at the game and a row over cash for TV rights.