Southampton manager Tonda Eckert will keep his job despite orchestrating a spying scandal that got the club expelled from the Championship playoffs and cost it a chance at promotion to the Premier League. Owner Dragan Solak confirmed Tuesday he would not sack the German coach, who issued a public apology in an eight-minute video statement on the club's social media channels.
"For everything that's happened, I do want to apologise, and I hold my hand up because as a head coach I am responsible for everything that has happened in this football club," Eckert said.
An independent disciplinary commission of the English Football League ruled that there had been a "contrived and determined plan from the top down to gain a competitive advantage" through spying missions. The commission said Eckert had authorized the tactics and described as "particularly deplorable" the use of junior members of staff to conduct what it called clandestine operations.
Southampton was found to have observed a training session held by semifinal opponents Middlesbrough, as well as two other similar incidents during the season. The club admitted to the conduct and was expelled from last month's playoff final. It also received a four-point deduction to be applied to the 2026-27 Championship table. The Football Association has opened its own investigation and could yet charge Eckert.
Despite the scandal, Southampton had beaten Middlesbrough 2-1 over two legs in the playoff semifinals. Boro were reinstated and went on to lose the final to Hull City, who earned promotion to the Premier League. Hull will receive an estimated 200 million pounds, about $268 million, in extra income as a result, according to Al Jazeera. The playoff final prize is widely considered the most lucrative match in world football.
Eckert, who is 33 and was appointed head coach in December, said he was devastated by the outcome. "I am devastated that after six months of building that relationship [with fans] back up, the season has come to an end, come to an end that couldn't have left us in a worse place than we are in right now," he said.
He acknowledged that observing opposing teams was common practice in other countries but admitted it was not an excuse for his conduct in the English second tier. "When I worked in Italy for over four years, every starting lineup that we've chosen for the games was always out in the media before games," he said. "And the reason is that our training sessions, especially the ones before games, have always been observed."
The FA investigation remains open, meaning additional charges against Eckert are still possible.
