Ranking the likely EFL punishments if Southampton found guilty of ‘Spygate 2.0’

Southampton fans are facing a nervy wait for the result of an EFL investigation after their club was charged with spying on a Middlesbrough training session.

The St Mary’s club defeated Boro via extra time in the second leg of their semi-final playoff, setting up a final against Hull at Wembley for promotion to the Premier League but the game on Tuesday was played against a backdrop of ‘Spygate 2.0’ in which Southampton are alleged to have sent an analyst to spy on Middlesbrough’s training sessions.

While fans had their fun, turning up in ghillie suits and armed with binoculars, the incident has clearly left a sour taste in the mouth of anyone of a Middlesbrough persuasion.

Southampton manager Tonda Eckert walked out of his press conference after being asked if he was a cheat, Boro boss Kim Hellberg meanwhile described it as “disgraceful.”

“If we didn’t catch that man [the alleged analyst] who they sent up, five hours to drive, you would sit here and say ‘well done’ maybe in the tactical aspects of the game and I would go home and feel like I have failed in that aspect that I had to help my players,” Hellberg said.

“But when that is taken away from you, when someone decides: ‘Nah, we’re not going to watch every game, we’ll send someone instead, we’ll film the session, and see everything, and hope they don’t get caught’ – I guess that’s why they were switching clothes and all those things – it breaks my heart, in terms of all those things I believe in. I don’t care if there are different rules in other countries.”

But even with the game finished, Saints fans wait to see what action could come of it should Southampton be found guilty.

Here are four possible punishments based on how likely we think they are to happen:

4. Docked points for next season

Points deductions have become pretty commonplace for rule breaching in football but the issue here is that we are post-season and so much of the league is already on their holidays.

If the EFL did hand out a points deduction, it would have to be at least 10 to have any relevance but in the scenario, what would happen to seventh-place Wrexham? Would they play Boro for a chance to go to Wembley?

An alternative could be a points deduction for next season but that would become a tricky issue should Southampton be promoted for up until this point, it has been an entirely EFL investigation.

It remains to be seen whether the Premier League would want to implement such a deduction and whether the laws even permit that.

A points deduction then seems quite unlikely but would not be without precedent. At the 2024 Olympics, when the Canadian women’s team spied on New Zealand with a drone, FIFA deducted Canada six points and fined them 200,000 Swiss francs (£189,000).

Canada head coach Bev Priestman was also suspended.

3. Kicked out of playoffs

If a points deduction is not feasible and would serve no benefit to Middlesbrough, a more reasonable suggestion is that Southampton would be kicked out of the playoffs and Boro given a bye into the final.

But even this seems unlikely because for a start, it seems an overly harsh punishment for the offence and is also without precedent.

In the 40 years of the playoffs, no team has ever been booted out midway through a tie and doing so now would be a big statement by the EFL.

Why ‘spygate 2.0’ could massively disrupt Southampton’s Premier League push

2. Touchline ban for Eckert

Tonda Eckert walked out of his post-match press conference on Tuesday and has refused to admit the spy was sent under his orders. The suggestion is that the individual went of his own accord but anyone who believes that, we have some magic beans to sell you.

In scenarios like this, it is often the manager who pays the price and the EFL will take a dim view of any suggestions that Eckert was unaware. So a reasonable punishment could be that he is forced to watch from the stands.

Middlesbrough fans would not be happy with what they would likely see as a light punishment but it does look a possible option at this point.

1. Issued a Fine

The most realistic option at this stage would be a fine.

There’s precedent for such a punishment as Leeds were charged £200k for their spying incident but that was before such a rule was invented.

A fine in this scenario would likely be a lot more given there is now an established rule against it and Leeds’ spying came midseason rather than during the playoffs. So it could be quite the hit to Southampton’s wallet, not that they would care should they go up to the Premier League.

Middlesbrough will be annoyed for a fine serves them no purpose but at this stage, it seems the most likely outcome if Saints are found guilty.

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