Southampton manager Tonda Eckert given six-week suspended ban by FA over Spygate
Southampton manager Tonda Eckert was given a six-week suspended ban by the Football Association on 7 October 2026 for his role in the Spygate scandal that led to the club’s four-point penalty and expulsion from last season’s Championship play-offs. The FA imposed a £28,000 fine after Eckert admitted the charges; the suspension is deferred until the end of next season.
Eckert faced three counts of misconduct from the FA in relation to breaches of its rules. The FA said: “The suspended sanction will come into effect in the event he is found to have committed a breach of rules or regulations by requesting, authorising, taking, or using information from any observation of the training of another club, in whatever guise that observation may take.”
An independent disciplinary commission convened by the English Football League found that Eckert had “specifically authorised” spying on three occasions last season. The commission concluded covert missions had been carried out to observe Championship training sessions involving Middlesbrough, Ipswich and Oxford, and its ruling removed Southampton’s right to appear in the play-off final and imposed a points deduction at the start of this season.
The EFL was unable to impose individual sanctions in that process, so the matter was referred to the FA to consider action against Eckert personally. The panel that heard the FA case set out its reasoning in writing and said: “we consider there is considerable mitigation in this matter, most particularly around the genuine contrition the commission considers has been clearly shown by Mr Eckert in his evidence to us.”
Southampton welcomed the FA verdict and said measures had been “put in place to ensure that such errors in judgement never happen again at our club”. The club’s owner, Dragan Solak, said: “We have already suffered enough, and we appreciate the panel’s recognition of that. We are confident the manager has learned from this matter, and a suspended sentence allows him to continue in his role.” Solak added: “The FA process has been a positive experience,” he said. “Tonda has been given the opportunity to be open and honest with the panel, and the panel has been able to see that he is simply a good person who made poor decisions. The same cannot be said for the EFL process, and the way they have subsequently treated us is not something we will forget.”
As part of the EFL proceedings Eckert admitted to commissioning the surveillance but denied using the material, claiming “he did not find the information useful, that it was wrong or that he did not have regard to it”. He also accepted that the information sought was “sensitive” and that a club “would wish to keep it private in the buildup to a game”. Eckert was retained by Southampton despite the scandal.
Eckert will remain in charge for Sunday’s derby at home to Portsmouth; Southampton sit 13th after eight games and would be fourth without the deducted points.