The Spygate scandal has taken another twist after Southampton released a statement acknowledging that they had been charged by the FA, before swiftly deleting it.
The Saints were expelled from the Championship play-off final back in May after admitting they had spied on rival teams during the 2025-26 season.
That came after a club analyst was spotted filming Middlesbrough’s training session ahead of Southampton’s play-off semi-final against Boro, triggering a major crisis at the south coast club.
Southampton won that tie 2-1 on aggregate but an independent commission subsequently expelled them from the final and also handed them a four-point deduction for the coming season.
That came after they found a ‘contrived and determined plan from the top down’ to embark on a spying operation, with boss Tonda Eckert coming under particular scrutiny.
The FA subsequently launched their own investigation into the saga, with potential ramifications including bans for those involved, most notably boss Eckert and the intern analyst William Salt.
Southampton released a statement acknowledging that the club and boss Tonda Eckert had been charged by the FA after the spygate scandal, before swiftly deleting it
The outcome of that probe is yet to be published, yet on Wednesday morning Southampton released a club statement at around 10am.
It read: ‘Southampton Football Club and First Team Head Coach Tonda Eckert acknowledge today’s charges from The FA relating to a breach of Rule E3.1.
‘Tonda and the club will continue to cooperate fully and openly with The FA. Our focus remains on preparations for the 2026/27 Championship season.
‘The club remains fully supportive of Tonda and his staff as we work towards our ambition of returning to the Premier League.
‘We are unable to comment further while the process remains ongoing, but we will provide an update to supporters as soon as we are in a position to do so.’
However, within minutes, the club statement was deleted, suggesting it was posted in error, creating confusion for Southampton fans and leaving them in the dark.
Local media subsequently reported that a statement from the club and FA is currently expected to be released on Thursday instead.
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