Josh Windass, the Wrexham forward, has called for the Championship playoffs to be restarted with his team included, following Southampton's expulsion from the competition on Tuesday. An independent commission removed Southampton from the post-season tournament after the club admitted to three spying offences, including one against Middlesbrough, their playoff semi-final opponents.
Southampton's Appeal and Potential Reinstatement
Southampton have confirmed they will appeal against the sanctions, with a league arbitration panel scheduled for Thursday. The panel could either uphold the original decision or reinstate the Saints, who also received a four-point deduction for the upcoming season. The outcome remains uncertain, casting a shadow over the playoff schedule.
Windass's Proposal for a Full Reset
Windass, whose Wrexham side finished just one place outside the playoff spots, believes the four-team competition should be completely reset. In an Instagram post, he wrote: "This Southampton story is one of the maddest I've seen. But why isn't the play-offs starting again with the 4 other teams? Boro v Hull would have been the semi!! Confused." Under his proposal, Wrexham would have faced third-placed Millwall in the semi-finals, replacing Southampton in the bracket.
Current Playoff Situation
As it stands, the independent commission has reinstated Middlesbrough, who will now face Hull City in Saturday's playoff final, pending the outcome of Southampton's appeal. Middlesbrough's players returned to training on Wednesday in anticipation of playing at Wembley, though the EFL noted that the schedule could still change due to the appeal. The EFL also confirmed that if the final is between Boro and Hull, kick-off will be moved to 3:30pm; if Southampton's appeal succeeds and they play Hull, the match will start at the originally scheduled 4:30pm.
The EFL stated that Southampton admitted to charges of observing training sessions at Oxford United in December and Ipswich Town in April, in addition to the Middlesbrough incident. All spying offences occurred after Tonda Eckert was appointed as Southampton's head coach in early December.
