Spygate latest: Tonda Eckert given Southampton owner's backing as head coach apologises for scandal
Southampton were thrown out of the play-offs and deducted four points in next season's Championship after admitting spying on three opponents; League Arbitration Panel's reasons for dismissing Saints' appeal now revealed; intern was told Tonda Eckert "loved" information he gathered
Tuesday 2 June 2026 10:49, UK
Tonda Eckert has taken full responsibility "for everything that happened" in the Spygate scandal, apologising to players, staff and supporters - but he will remain as Southampton head coach after recieving back from chairman Dragon Solak.
In a statement, Eckert said: "For everything that's happened, I do want to apologise and I hold my hand up because as a head coach I am responsible. I am responsible for everything that has happened in this football club.
"I do apologise to the supporters, to everyone who has travelled with us, who has supported us over so many games, to the ones who have shared emotions game by game, who have managed to bring us all the way up to the very end of the season where we were supposed to play the biggest game of the season.
"I apologise to the players who have done absolutely everything that they can, absolutely everything in the last six months to bring this football club back to where it belongs."
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Eckert's apology and backing from owner Solak follows publication on Monday of the written reasons why Southampton's appeal against their expulsion from the Championship play-offs and a four-point deduction for next season was dismissed.
Southampton admitted to spying on Oxford, Ipswich and Middlesbrough during the 2025/26 season.
The club's conduct was described as a "contrived and determined plan from the top down" by the League Arbitration Panel while the written reasons revealed WhatsApp messages in which Eckert "loved" the information a junior analyst intern gathered when spying on one of his team's opponents.
"A reprimand is considered appropriate because of the way in which junior members of staff were put under pressure to carry out activities which they felt were, at the least, morally wrong," the panel concluded.
'I take full responsibility' - Eckert
In Eckert's eight-minute video apology, released by Southampton on Tuesday, he added: "I apologise to all of the clubs that have been involved and mostly I apologise to our supporters," who explained that spying on teams is commonplace in other countries.
"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.
"I am a young coach, I have made a mistake and I take full responsibility.
"It hurts and it hurts to see the employees of the football club, it hurts to see the staff, it hurts to see the players who have invested so much in the preparation for games, who have invested so much to leave their families at home to recover and to prepare for the games coming up, who had hurt so much.
"To see their pain on the day the decision came in because it has such a big impact not just on them and their career but also on their families.
"I want to thank Dragan and the board for the support especially in times like this. With everything that I have said, without script and without predefined statement, speaking to you from the heart, I hope that you have an overview of what has happened over the last weeks and I hope that over time you can understand and forgive."
Saints owner has no intention of sacking Eckert over 'Spygate'
In a statement released prior to Eckert's, Saints owner Solak admitted the German head coach had made a "mistake" but backed him before targeting promotion to the Premier League next season.
Solak said: "It's important to apologise for how we handled the matters in the early stages of the process. We have to be better. Mistakes have been made and we will learn from them. Let me take this opportunity to reaffirm how committed I am to bringing success to St Mary's.
"As I have said, I want to close this chapter and look ahead. And I want to look ahead together as one, including Tonda and his staff.
"Tonda's period as our head coach has been a success so far. Our form during 2026 has been remarkable and we believe he is the man to take us forward. As a board, we are fully behind him and together we only have one objective: we want promotion back to the Premier League.
"We all together will continue to work hard this summer to give you a team you can be proud of and a club that is growing every year. I promise you that we'll bring to you at the end of the summer the team that will take you out of your seats and excitement will run high against St Mary's."
'You legend - manager loved it'
On Monday, the 39-page written reasons set out why Southampton spied on Oxford, Ipswich and Middlesbrough, along with what type of information was discovered.
The first incident Saints were punished for occurred before their Boxing Day defeat at Oxford, who had recently sacked Gary Rowett and replaced him with Craig Short.
A junior analyst intern was sent to watch Oxford training, from where he sent updates, photos and videos to Southampton coaching staff.
He received a message saying: "You legend. Manager loved it."
Eckert said he did not view the footage and it had no impact on his preparation for a game Saints lost 2-1.
Of being asked to carry out the task, the intern said: "I didn't really have an option and wasn't provided an opportunity to say no. I was an intern and was doing what I was told."
Analyst asked for Eastleigh kit to watch Ipswich training
The same intern expressed concern at being asked to observe Ipswich's training before their draw with Southampton in April - when both sides were competing for automatic promotion to the Premier League.
He was told "the boss is adamant that someone needs to go".
Ipswich trained at Eastleigh ahead of their game against Southampton - with a Saints analyst asking if they could be provided with Eastleigh kit if they were to watch their Championship opponents train.
Footage of the entire Ipswich training session was sent back to Southampton. Eckert said he thought someone at Eastleigh had provided the footage.
Intern deleted LinkedIn after being caught at Boro
Southampton's actions were revealed when the intern was caught spying on Boro's training session ahead of their play-off semi-final.
Eckert wanted to know if Hayden Hackney, Boro's influential midfielder, was available for the game.
Flights and accommodation were booked for the intern, who was also shown drone footage of Boro's training ground. He again expressed concern about being asked to spy on an opponent.
The intern sent three videos from Boro training to his colleagues - which were passed to Eckert - from his position behind a tree just outside Boro's training ground, before he was approached by four people.
The intern "rapidly" moved away, but was caught and asked to remove the footage - which he did. The intern then changed his clothes at the nearby golf club, and deleted his LinkedIn profile as he was worried Boro would discover his identity.
An analyst suggested Saints' media team should take down images on their platforms of manager of the month awards received by Eckert as the intern could be identified in the background.
Eckert said the footage gathered at Boro was of poor quality and no use to him.
The written reasons detail how analysts felt pressure to carry out jobs asked of them as a colleague had lost their job earlier in the season.
The intern was concerned for his job prospects if he did not carry out the tasks, adding he felt pressure from the coaches due to criticism of the information he gathered at Oxford.
Another analyst told a colleague: "I said all along I was never happy about it all and it wasn't right, but no one listened to me!"
