Southampton Spygate: Why Tonda Eckert's admission over scandal will resonate at Sheffield United's Shirecliffe base
Southampton coach Tonda Eckert has accepted responsibility for the scandal that cost the Saints a shot at promotion, and the episode serves as a reminder of why Championship clubs such as Sheffield United go to great lengths to protect their training-ground preparations.
The impact of Southampton’s “Spygate” saga has been felt most keenly on the south coast but is also expected to resonate around the Championship, including at Sheffield United’s Shirecliffe training base. Saints boss Tonda Eckert today accepted full responsibility for the scandal which cost the Blades’ Championship rivals a shot at the Premier League.
The Saints were booted out of the play-off final last month after admitting to sending an intern staff member to spy on a Middlesbrough training session ahead of the two clubs’ semi-final. An investigation by the EFL found them guilty of a "deplorable" act of putting pressure on a junior member of staff to observe Boro’s preparations.
Eckert had been widely expected to lose his job in the wake of the damning verdict, which also saw Saints docked four points ahead of the 2026/27 campaign as well as losing their place in last season’s play-off final.
But he has been backed by the Saints hierarchy and in a lengthy video posted on Southampton’s club social media, said: "For everything that has happened, I do want to apologise and I hold my hand up because as head coach I am responsible. I am responsible for everything that has happened at this football club."
United already have strict access requirements to the Shirecliffe training complex, with security stationed around the academy perimeter. In an era of marginal gains and finding the extra one per cent, clubs like United are understandably protective of tactical work, team selections and set-piece routines.
As well as play-off semi-final opponents Boro, Saints were also found guilty of spying on Ipswich and Oxford during the regular season. There is no suggestion that United’s sessions were observed by Southampton last term, but the revelations are unlikely to have gone down well with officials and coaching staff at Bramall Lane.
"I apologise to all of the clubs that have been involved and mostly I apologise to our supporters," added Eckert. "When I worked in Italy for over four years, every starting line-up that we have chosen for the games was always out in the media before games.
"The reason is that our training sessions, especially the ones before games, have always been observed from the media and have always been observed by opponent teams that we came up against.
"[Pep] Guardiola has spoken about this in his time at Bayern Munich, that it has been common practice in Germany to observe training sessions knowing that other teams would do the same.
"I don't want to say this to excuse anything that we have done. I just want to give you context in the way that I grew up in the football world."
There may be further sanctions to follow for Eckert and the Saints, with the FA opening its own investigation into the matter after the EFL disciplinary action ran its course.