Southampton Expelled from Championship Play-Offs for Spying on Middlesbrough
Southampton have been expelled from the Championship play-offs following allegations of spying on Middlesbrough prior to the first leg of their semi-final encounter.
In addition to their removal from the play-offs, Southampton have been handed a four-point deduction to be applied in the 2026-27 Championship season.
Middlesbrough, who were defeated by Southampton in the semi-final, have been reinstated and will now face Hull City in the play-off final for a chance to be promoted to the Premier League.
The final will still take place on Saturday at Wembley Stadium, with a 16:30 BST kickoff.
Recap: What did Southampton do?
The incident, commonly referred to as "Spygate," allegedly occurred two days before the first leg of the play-off semi-final between Middlesbrough and Southampton.
On the morning of Thursday, 7 May, Middlesbrough were training at their Rockliffe Park facility in preparation for the match against Southampton scheduled 48 hours later.
A Southampton analyst is reported to have parked at a nearby golf club and then walked a few hundred yards down a road leading to an elevated area overlooking the training ground.
According to sources cited by the BBC, the individual was seen pointing his mobile phone at the training session while wearing in-ear headphones.
Middlesbrough staff suspect that the analyst may have been live-streaming the session via a video call.
A member of Middlesbrough's staff approached the individual, but he refused to identify himself. He then quickly deleted some content from his phone before fleeing back towards the golf club.
The person reportedly jogged into the golf club's toilets, changed clothes, and left the premises in haste.
Middlesbrough's photographer took pictures and matched the individual to a photo found on Southampton's official website. One of these images was made public last week.
Furious at the incident, Middlesbrough promptly reported the matter to the English Football League (EFL).
The EFL subsequently charged Southampton with breaching two regulations:
- EFL Regulation 3.4, which mandates that clubs must act towards each other with the utmost good faith;
- EFL Regulation 127, which prohibits any club from observing or attempting to observe another club's training session within 72 hours prior to a scheduled match between the two clubs.
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