Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert faces a potential misconduct charge from the Football Association after new documents revealed he initiated the club's spying on opponents. The revelations emerged from written reasons of an English Football League arbitration panel, which rejected Southampton's appeal against expulsion from the Championship playoffs.
According to the panel, the first instance of spying occurred before Southampton's Boxing Day fixture against Oxford United. Eckert asked if someone could observe Oxford's training session to see their lineup and check a player's fitness. An intern was tasked with the job and told he “didn't really have an option” to refuse. After observing two sessions, the intern sent updates, photographs, and videos back to the club. A member of the analysis team messaged him on WhatsApp: “Try and make out as much as you can please. You legend. Manager loved it.”
In April, the intern was asked to surveil Ipswich Town but refused, feeling his job would be at risk. An academy analyst instead recorded footage of a session. Eckert told the commission he thought the footage was from CCTV by Eastleigh. The third instance involved Middlesbrough, where the intern was caught filming a training session. Eckert said the videos were of poor quality and of no benefit to him.
The panel found Southampton gained a sporting advantage from the spying, though noted “sporting advantage is different from sporting success.” Southampton were expelled from the playoffs and deducted four points for next season. The FA's investigation is ongoing. Despite the scandal, owner Dragan Solak said he has no intention of sacking Eckert, calling him a “super-talented manager” who deserves a second chance. Solak added that Eckert must learn the EFL rulebook by heart.
Southampton accepted the panel's findings, stating they made “an error of judgement for which we take responsibility.”
