Eckert free to stay as Southampton boss as Spygate ban suspended

Tonda Eckert is free to continue as Southampton manager after being given a suspended ban for his role in the Spygate scandal.

A Football Association (FA) independent regulatory commission handed the German a six-week ban from all football, but suspended it until the end of next season.

Eckert has also been given a £28,000 fine and a reprimand.

But both he and his club will be hugely relieved he has not received the kind of lengthy ban that could have cost him his job.

The FA charged Eckert in July with misconduct, and a hearing took place at the end of last month.

Saints were expelled from the Championship play-offs in May after admitting spying on training sessions involving Oxford United, Ipswich Town, and Middlesbrough before the play-off semi-final.

They were also handed a four-point deduction for this season.

An English Football League (EFL) independent disciplinary commission ruled at the time the espionage was authorised by Eckert and was a "contrived and determined plan from the top down".

The 33-year-old apologised in June - claiming he was unaware the practice was banned and that it had no impact on his team's performances - but the FA took action.

Eckert has been sanctioned for three breaches of FA Rule E3.1. The six-week ban from all football activity would be triggered if he was found to be involved in any other spying between now and the end of next season.

Eckert was appointed permanent Southampton manager in December 2025 after taking interim charge when they were 21st in the Championship. They finished the season in fourth place.

Saints, who face local rivals Portsmouth this weekend, are 13th in the Championship this season with four wins from their eight matches so far.

They argued they had suffered enough as a result of the scandal.

It was the morning of Thursday, 7 May.

Middlesbrough were at their Rockliffe Park training base preparing for the game against Southampton 48 hours later.

The spy - Southampton intern William Salt - is said to have parked at the golf club, then walked a couple of hundred yards down a road that leads to a raised area of ground.

Sources told the BBC that Salt stood pointing his mobile at the training session, while wearing in-ear headphones.

Middlesbrough staff believe he may have been live-streaming the session via a video call.

A member of Middlesbrough's staff approached, say BBC sources, but the person would not identify himself. He then quickly deleted some content on his phone before running into the golf club.

He jogged into the toilets, changed his clothes and hurriedly left the site.

Middlesbrough's photographer took photos and matched him to a photo on the Southampton website. One of those pictures was subsequently made public.

Boro were furious and quickly reported the incident to the EFL, which charged Southampton with breaking two regulations:

• EFL regulation 3.4, which requires clubs to act towards each other with the utmost good faith; and

• EFL regulation 127, which prohibits any club from observing, or attempting to observe, another club's training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match between the two clubs.

During the investigation, details emerged about the club watching training sessions involving Oxford and Ipswich, in addition to filming Middlesbrough as they prepared for the first leg of their play-off semi-final.

Southampton did not win any of the three games - they lost 2-1 at Oxford, drew 2-2 at home to Ipswich and 0-0 at Boro.

Salt has since been appointed to a permanent role at Saints in the club's academy.

Southampton told the BBC "he's been through a time time".

"When your photo is put out to the public, that is something tough to deal with," chief executive Phil Parsons told the BBC last month.

"A lot of people probably underestimated how that could have impacted a young lad so we've got a job to make sure that he's looked after in his early career. But he's a talented boy as well. I get good feedback and he's got a good role at the club."