Southampton chief executive cites Leeds United example in statement on Middlesbrough's 'spygate' reprieve
Southampton chief executive cites Leeds United example in statement on Middlesbrough’s play-off reprieve
Southampton chief executive Phil Parsons has hit back at the decison to remove the club from the Championship play-offs and reinstate Middlesbrough.
The Saints have admitted to spying on Middlesbrough training before their first leg semi-final meeting with Kim Hellberg’s men. It has also emerged they watched Ipswich Town and Oxford Unitd sessions earlier in the season.
Southampton were victorious over Middlesbrough at the semi-final stage but as it stands, it will be the latter who face Hull City in the Wembley final on Saturday (May 23). As well as being removed from the play-offs, Southampton have been docked four points for the 2026/27 Championship season.
An appeal has been lodged by the Saints and it is hoped a verdict will be delivered today.
Parsons has accepted Southampton’s behaviour was “wrong”, but claimed the punishment “bears no proportion to the offence”. He has cited the punishment of a £200,000 fine given to Leeds United in 2019 to support his statement.
The Whites were found to have spied on Derby County, but the offence took place prior to the introduction of an official rule outlawing such behaviour.
Southampton chief issues statement
Parsons said: “We have appealed yesterday's decision by the independent disciplinary commission to expel Southampton Football Club from the Championship play-offs, and to impose a four-point deduction for the 2026/27 season. Before turning to that appeal, I want to address our supporters, our players, and the wider football community directly and without equivocation.
“What happened was wrong. The club has admitted breaches of EFL Regulations 3.4 and 127. We are sorry to the other clubs involved, and most of all to the Southampton supporters whose extraordinary loyalty and support this season deserved better from the club.
“We have provided our full co-operation to the EFL's investigation and disciplinary process. Following the appeal, we will also be writing to the EFL to volunteer our participation in a working group on the practical application and enforcement of Regulation 127 across the Championship. Contrition without change is hollow, and we intend to demonstrate change.
“On the appeal itself: we accept that there should be a sanction. What we cannot accept is a sanction which bears no proportion to the offence. Whereas Leeds United was fined £200,000 for a similar offence, Southampton has been denied the opportunity to compete in a game worth more than £200m and one which means so much to our staff, players and supporters.
“We believe the financial consequence of yesterday's ruling makes it, by a very considerable distance, the largest penalty ever imposed on an English football club. Luton Town's 30-point deduction in 2008/09 — to date the most severe sporting sanction in the English game — was levied against a club already in League Two, with no comparable revenue at stake.
“Derby County's 21-point deduction in 2021 cost them their Championship status. Everton's eventual six-point deduction in 2023/24 followed losses of £124.5m, a figure dwarfed by what has been taken from Southampton in a single afternoon. The largest financial penalty ever levied by the Premier League, against Chelsea in March of this year, was £10.75m, and was accompanied by no sporting sanction whatsoever despite involving £47.5m in undisclosed payments over seven years.
“We say this not to minimise what occurred at this club, which we have accepted was wrong. We say it because proportionality is itself a principle of natural justice. The commission was entitled to impose a sanction. It was not, we will argue, entitled to impose one that is manifestly disproportionate to every previous sanction in the history of the English game. Our appeal will be heard today, and we will provide a further update in due course.”