Ken Bates' penny-pinching at Leeds United has reached a new depth.
After putting the club into Administration to avoid their debts the millionaire Monaco resident has now sent Huddersfield their hotel bill for last Saturday's derby match - claiming the Noon kick-off necessitated an overnight stay.
Huddersfield have laughed the bill off, with the two club grounds just 16 miles and 25 minutes apart. Town CEO Nigel Glibbens told their official site: "Leeds have told us that the 12.00 kick off 'necessitated' an overnight stay because their players 'would have been leaving home at an unreasonable hour in terms of match preparation time' and therefore under Football League Regulations we should pay.
"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. 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."
Leeds have retaliated, claiming that Huddersfield illegally used match footage taken by the club in the reverse fixture and that the Terriers wanted to charge the Whites £5,000 to video last Saturday's match. Leeds say the hotel bill is £1,100 and claim they did not go to print about the actions of the Terriers as they considered the matters to be 'private'.
The Football League regulation that Leeds are claiming under states: 24.6 Should a kick-off at 12.00 noon or earlier necessitate the Away Club incurring overnight hotel expenses, the Away Club shall be entitled to claim the hotel expenses incurred (at the rate as determined by the Executive from time to time, per person per night for a party not exceeding twenty in number) against the gross gate, any dispute to be determined by the Executive.