Hull City continue to watch developments with keen interest ahead of this weekend’s huge game
The storm clouds have gathered outside St Mary’s in recent days (Image: Warren Little/Getty Images)
Southampton chief executive Phil Parsons has said sorry for the club’s part in the spygate saga, which has seen them kicked out of the Championship play-offs, but challenged the severity of their punishment.
After the disciplinary panel hearing, which was held on Tuesday, Middlesbrough were given Southampton’s place in Saturday’s final against Hull City at Wembley after they were found guilty on multiple spying charges.
Though Parsons has apologised for spying on other Championship clubs, he has challenged the severity of the punishment, which he says is disproportionate.
The South Coast outfit appealed Tuesday’s verdict, and their appeal will be heard later on Wednesday, with a decision expected within 24 hours as the clock continues to tick towards Saturday’s Wembley showpiece.
“We have appealed yesterday’s decision by the Independent Disciplinary Commission to expel Southampton Football Club from the Sky Bet Championship Play-Offs, and to impose a four-point deduction for the 2026/27 season. Before turning to that appeal, I want to address our supporters, our players, and the wider football community directly and without equivocation,” Phil Parsons said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon.
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“What happened was wrong. The club has admitted breaches of EFL Regulations 3.4 and 127. We are sorry to the other clubs involved, and most of all to the Southampton supporters whose extraordinary loyalty and support this season deserved better from the club.
“We have provided our full co-operation to the EFL’s investigation and disciplinary process. Following the appeal, we will also be writing to the EFL to volunteer our participation in a working group on the practical application and enforcement of Regulation 127 across the Championship. Contrition without change is hollow, and we intend to demonstrate change.
“On the appeal itself: we accept that there should be a sanction. What we cannot accept is a sanction which bears no proportion to the offence. Whereas Leeds United was fined £200,000 for a similar offence, Southampton has been denied the opportunity to compete in a game worth more than £200 million and one which means so much to our staff, players and supporters.
“We believe the financial consequence of yesterday’s ruling makes it, by a very considerable distance, the largest penalty ever imposed on an English football club. Luton Town’s 30-point deduction in 2008/09 — to date the most severe sporting sanction in the English game — was levied against a club already in League Two, with no comparable revenue at stake. Derby County’s 21-point deduction in 2021 cost them their Championship status.
“Everton’s eventual six-point deduction in 2023/24 followed losses of £124.5 million, a figure dwarfed by what has been taken from Southampton in a single afternoon. The largest financial penalty ever levied by the Premier League, against Chelsea in March of this year, was £10.75 million, and was accompanied by no sporting sanction whatsoever despite involving £47.5 million in undisclosed payments over seven years.
“We say this not to minimise what occurred at this club, which we have accepted was wrong. We say it because proportionality is itself a principle of natural justice. The Commission was entitled to impose a sanction. It was not, we will argue, entitled to impose one that is manifestly disproportionate to every previous sanction in the history of the English game. Our appeal will be heard today (Wednesday), and we will provide a further update in due course.”
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