I am sure this kind of thing happens more often than we think. Southampton were just incompetent about it.

It will be interesting to see what the appeal board come up with. Personally I think Hull should be promoted and the EFL bigwigs should move their self-congratulatory shindig to the League 1 playoff final.

Wouldn't have happened in Rupert's day

Maybe if you are going to spy,a Middlesbrough scarf and bobble hat would of been the perfect disguise,.get caught claim you wanted to see your favourite players train..

Bit subtle that for Chelsea fans, Airsy!

I still think Spurs will survive on Sunday - even if West Ham manage to beat Leeds, Spurs only need to draw to stay up…

Did the Chelsea supporters give Spudz a rendition of "Southampton away, ole, ole" last night?

Just hope that someone is making sure the kid is OK. Ultimately it wasn't his decision and would have been lead by the senior football staff. He was an (unpaid??) intern and probably just wanted to get on in the game. Yes, there's an argument for morals and he could have just said no, but the pressure must have been quite hard.

Looks like TNT is free to air for Villa's final tonight, although it's still telling me to subscribe at the moment.

I guess from a sporting integrity perspective you have to treat it the same as a team in the Conference South spying on three different opponents in a season. If Maidstone spied on 3 teams and got chucked out the conference south play offs (I’ve got no idea who is in the CS playoffs..) would that be a fair punishment? Arguably it would be. The commercial value of the Premier League tv rights shouldn't dictate how harsh a punishment it should be. Albeit, it becomes more dramatic.

I think that knowing (as they must have done) how severe the consequences might be if they were caught, Southampton only have themselves to blame - it’s incredibly stupid to (a) do it in the first place, and (b) get caught because you used a kid hiding behind a tree with his mobile for this operation…. I genuinely can’t see which leg they are hoping to stand on at the appeal, but I guess today will clarify that…

Apparently when Bielsa wanted to spy (on Derby?) at Leeds there was vigorous discussion amongst the club’s hierarchy that they shouldn’t do it because it’s just not how football is done in this country.

not even sure why Southampton spied on opposition, since there is paid for and free analysis on more or less every professional club globally, and all clubs are obliged to provide free access on a match day for opposition scouts. This is a website at a high level: [Link] There are others behind paywalls. Then you have fans uploading their own videos on YouTube and Facebook.

"I am disappointed that the club had to go to these lengths to get the information... For Southampton Football Club this is a really sad day. We have rules and we need to follow them. We have been punished hard for not following very simple rules and maybe football needs to set these rules and punish hard to get people to follow them. Clearly when you admit to doing this three times it feels like you don't have much of a leg to stand on” - ex Southampton player Jo Tessem. Hard to disagree with that - after the Leeds incident in 2019, the rules (and potential punishment for flouting them) were toughened up, and presumably Southampton knew that full well. Maybe the powers that be just felt that having Middlesbrough, Newcastle, and Sunderland together in the Premier League would bring more viewers to the TV than Soton…

*reimbursed.

If it goes against Southampton their tickets and travel costs should be remembersed by the by the club. It's not their fault.

Obviously I mean Everton

Hate to say this but come on Palace.

It was never ideal. We won't ever know but I think the EFL expected the board to dish out a large fine and a points deduction. They originally stopped Southampton from selling tickets then allowed it, presumably expecting Southampton to play. Who knows what the appeal board have been selected to deecide and whether they will do it or be contrary.

REPD - I’m sat here thinking the same thing 😩

OI - or they may not… Boro fans must be wondering whether they should book travel and accommodation, it’s far from ideal…

Come on Chelsea

They have appealed. They are appealing the penalty not the finding and they may have a point and the appeal board may agree with them.

If Southampton are stupid enough to appeal, I’d expect their punishment to be increased if anything… 🤷🏻‍♂️

Well done Arsenal