It’s now been revealed that Tonda Eckert has been charged with misconduct by the FA.
This relates to the Spygate saga that played out back in May.
Tonda Eckert and others at Southampton attempting to get an unfair advantage by spying pre-match on the opposition.
The Saints targeted other clubs’ training sessions both in the regular Championship season and ahead of facing Middlesbrough in the play-offs.
After they were caught out, Southampton ended up losing their place in the play-off final despite having defeated Middlesbrough in the semi-finals.
The Saints also start the 2026/27 season rock bottom of the second tier having been deducted four points because of Spygate.
BBC Sport reporting on Wednesday (22 July 2026): ‘An independent disciplinary commission ruled at the time that the espionage was authorised by Eckert and was a “contrived and determined plan from the top down”. Since then the club has been the subject of an investigation by the FA, looking into who participated in the spying and assessing the culpability of those who knew it was happening. The FA said, Eckert “has been charged with three breaches of FA rule E3.1 in relation to misconduct between December 2025 and May 2026”.’
The report adding: ‘The EFL can only take action against its member clubs but the FA can punish individuals and hand out bans. The FA said it is “alleged that the head coach acted in an improper manner and/or brought the game into disrepute by directing and/or authorising the observation of training sessions” of these games. Eckert has until next Tuesday to respond.’