Eckert Welcomes Clarity After 'Spygate' Sanction as Southampton Face Portsmouth in Fierce South-Coast Derby

Southampton manager Tonda Eckert has broken his silence after being sanctioned over the club's notorious "spygate" scandal, insisting the matter is now closed ahead of Sunday's south-coast derby with Portsmouth. The 29-year-old coach was handed a suspended six-week ban and a £28,000 fine after admitting he authorised the observation of training sessions belonging to three rival Championship clubs last season. The FA charged Eckert in July, and an independent regulatory commission imposed the punishment, with the ban suspended until the end of the 2027-28 campaign. The governing body confirmed the verdict on Wednesday. "I made a mistake and I said that relatively quickly and then I think you just have to accept the consequences," Eckert told reporters at his pre-match press conference on Thursday. "I'm very happy we go into Sunday, one of the biggest games of the season, with clarity. And that's not just for me, that's for everyone involved in this football club." The scandal already cost Saints dearly: they were expelled from last season's Championship playoff final and deducted four points for the current 2026-27 campaign after spying on Oxford United, Ipswich Town and Middlesbrough. Eckert acknowledged the verdict could easily have gone far worse and said the decision finally lets everyone at the club draw a line under the affair. Southampton, 13th in the Championship with 10 points from eight games, host Portsmouth at St Mary's on Sunday with a 12pm kick-off, their first meeting with their fiercest rivals since last season's two goalless draws.