SOUTHAMPTON’S Spygate intern feared for his job if he did not follow illegal orders.
Manager Tonda Eckert , in breach of rules, a disciplinary commission was told.
Saints boss Tonda Eckert is said to have placed staff under pressure to spy on opponents Credit: Getty
The club’s intern Will Salt felt he didn’t have a choice in saying no to spying
were and docked four points for next season after eventually .
New written reasons reveal the staggering scale of Southampton’s spying mission, revealing that:
- Eckert was unhappy with the footage sent from Middlesbrough by the intern and had wanted him to travel a day early to spy.
- Senior analysts, the club operations manager and Eckert were all deeply involved in Spygate planning.
- Intern was told ‘You legend. Manager loved it’, after spying on Oxford United, who Southampton lost to.
- CEO Phil Parsons misled the EFL in his first response to the Middlesbrough allegations, claiming no senior staff ordered the spying missions
- Saints said they would “take ownership” of the situation but continued to argue points of the decision.
An initial letter from CEO Parsons, responding to allegations on May 8, claimed no footage had been captured and that it was not a direction from senior figures at the club.
A Whatsapp message showed the intern was told Eckert ‘loved’ one of his spying missions Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
However, Southampton then apologised and admitted that Eckert had ordered the spying and footage had been sent back to the club. Saints admitted to spying on Oxford, Ipswich and .
A junior intern, thought to be Will Salt, told the commission that he felt he did not have a choice to say no to the spying missions.
Regarding the December incident with Oxford, the first spying occasion Southampton have admitted to, the written reasons quote a junior intern as saying: “I didn’t really have an option and wasn’t provided an opportunity to say no…. I was an intern and was doing what I was told.”
When an attempt to watch Ipswich train at Eastleigh was proposed, the intern was told: “The boss is adamant that someone needs to go”.
The evidence also states that there was disagreement Eckert and club staff over whether to spy on play-off semi-final rivals Boro or not.
Southampton were axed from the play-offs after admitting to spying on Middlesbrough Credit: Getty
The intern was caught filming sessions at Middlesbrough’s Rockliffe Park complex Credit: PA
Southampton have come under intense scrutiny and were docked four points by the EFL Credit: PA
Kim Hellberg slammed the Saints for spying before his side were promoted to the play-off final Credit: PA
One Southampton analyst, seemingly trying to protect the intern, suggested that he not go to Boro’s Rockliffe Park training ground and report back that security was too tight, with Eckert none the wiser.
The intern attended and was . According to the evidence, Eckert was frustrated he had not travelled on Tuesday to attend Wednesday’s session and was also unhappy with the footage provided.
The earliest flight available, booked by an operations manager, was on the Wednesday.
Boro staff caught Salt, who ran into the nearby clubhouse of the golf club, changed clothes and quickly deleted his LinkedIn profile to make identification harder.
Analysts at Saints, according to the evidence, asked their media team to delete published images of Eckert winning manager of the month awards as Salt was one of those pictured in the background.
In a statement, Southampton said: “Junior employees should never have been placed in a position where they felt under pressure, and the club accepts responsibility for that failure of leadership and oversight.
“Our responsibility now is to acknowledge what has happened, take ownership of the lessons it brings, and use this experience to strengthen our judgement, discipline, and integrity moving forward together as a club.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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