Southampton's worst week: Recapping Spygate

If things had been different there would be tens of thousands of Southampton fans heading to Wembley on Saturday.

Instead the club has suffered what is perhaps its worst week after the English Football League's (EFL) damning verdict that found its head coach Tonda Eckert authorised a "contrived and determined plan" to spy on three opponents.

Those tens of thousands of fans will be disappointed, the club will remain in the Championship despite outstanding form since the start of the year and the reputational damage from Spygate could last for years.

Here's how the last week or so unfolded:

The EFL warns the play-off final might not go ahead as planned on 23 May, pending the disciplinary hearing, which will take place on or before 19 May.

Southampton are given 36,000 tickets for the play-off final, with season ticket holders the first who can buy theirs.

Middlesbrough, who lost to Southampton in the play-off semi-final and alleged spying on their training session at their Rockliffe Park training ground, call for Saints to be expelled from the play-off final.

Boro say Saints' behaviour went against "sporting integrity and fair competition and believe that a sporting sanction is the only fair outcome.

Hull City's assistant manager Dean Holden tells the BBC that the Tigers are focused on facing Southampton in the play-off final, despite the uncertainty of how Tuesday's hearing will unfold.

"The full focus is and will remain on Southampton," he tells BBC Radio 5 Live. "If we're asking our analyst team, which is quite small, to prepare for two games we're asking for problems."

Southampton are thrown out of the play-offs by the EFL's independent disciplinary commission, denying the club a place in the game seen as the most lucrative in football.

Saints are also handed a four-point deduction for the forthcoming Championship season.

The club admit spying on Middlesbrough in May and ahead of matches against Oxford United in December and Ipswich in April.

The club says it will appeal and that it believes the sanctions against it to be disproportionate.

The news leads the BBC's News at Ten.

Fans at The Saints Pub in Millbrook tell the BBC of their disappointment after the EFL's decision.

Chris Jewell, who was due to attend Wembley on Saturday, says: "It is unfair. I know we've done wrong, but at the end of the day, how can they stop it when they've sold all these tickets and people have got all their coaches booked?

"I'm so sick, and any other Southampton supporter must feel exactly the same as I feel. I'm absolutely gutted."

The expulsion and points deduction overshadows news that Saints striker Ross Stewart has been called up by Scotland for the World Cup.

Saints' chief executive Phil Parsons apologises on the club's behalf, saying: "What happened was wrong."

But he adds that the club believes the punishment remains disproportionate and "makes it, by a very considerable distance, the large ever imposed on an English football club."

The EFL rejects Saints' appeal over Tuesday's verdict and upholds the commission's verdict in full. The decision is final.

Saints midfielder Leo Scienza says he feels "disappointment, anger, sadness" and that "what has happened over the last [few] days is heartbreaking…for the club, for every play in this dressing room and above all for our supporters".

Following Tuesday's news, former Southampton midfielder Jo Tessem says Spygate and its complications are an "absolute scandal for the club".

He says it is unclear if the "hardest punishment" was necessary but that "there has to be changes and decisions made at the club".

"This is not the way the football club we love should be run, this situation has put Saints in a really bad place with their reputation," Tessem says.

Former Southampton manager Harry Redknapp says the EFL's decision to expel the club from the play-off final was "very harsh" but that spying on opponents was "so stupid, it's beyond belief".

"They have made a big, big error and they have been severely punished, they really have," he adds.

The Football Association announces it is investigating Southampton's conduct after the club admits spying on Middlesbrough, Oxford and Ipswich.

A spokesperson for the FA, which governs football in England, says it "won't comment further until we have assessed the evidence".

The FA will look into who participated in the spying, assessing the culpability of those who encouraged it or knew it was happening.

The EFL can only take action against its member clubs.

But the FA could potentially dish out charges and potential bans to individuals.

Saints captain Taylor Harwood-Bellis says he and other players are "absolutely gutted, disappointed and heartbroken that it's come to this".

A member of the Southampton squad relegated from the Premier League in 2024/25, he says the club's players "worked so hard as a group to provide the football that you fans deserve".

He also addresses a celebration seemingly mocking Middlesbrough's Aidan Morris during the play-off semi-finals which appeared to show him mimicking a pair of binoculars with his hands.

"I'd also like to put on record that, had I known the severity of the situation, I would never have done what I did on the pitch," he adds.

"In the moment, it was meant as a bit of fun in a situation that we as players were not informed about."

Hull and Middlesborough prepare for the EFL's showcase play-off final on Saturday, which could net the winner at least £110m in potential broadcast revenue.