Jack Stephens breaks silence on Southampton FC Spygate scandal | OneFootball

Southampton captain Jack Stephens has discussed the Spygate scandal and how the club -and Dragan Solak - have handled it

All affiliated with Southampton will be hoping to move on from the now-infamous 'Spygate' scandal which denied Tonda Eckert's side of potential promotion to the Premier League and sent shockwaves throughout the Championship and the wider footballing landscape at the end of the 2025/26 campaign.

The Saints were found to have sent an intern analyst to spy on the training sessions of semi-final opponents Middlesbrough, who they would go on to defeat across two legs before being expelled from the competition ahead of a proposed final against Hull City at Wembley, and similar antics were later uncovered for previous fixtures with Ipswich Town and Oxford United in the regular league season.

With popular head coach Tonda Eckert having orchestrated a leading role in the scandal, Southampton were sanctioned with elimination from the play-offs and an automatic four-point deduction for the upcoming season although the post-Spygate fall-out may not be over just yet.

That's because Eckert is set to be punished following an following an FA investigation that has seen the German charged with three breaches of rule E3.1, with a potential ban still looming.

Eckert has, however, retained the public backing of owner Dragan Solak, and while initial reports suggested otherwise, it now appears as though the playing squad are onside and willing to back their boss despite being denied both a shot at promotion and lucrative contractual bonuses and wage hikes.

Indeed, one can only suspect Southampton will possess something of a siege mentality next season, with the club having been widely-condemned for the Spygate saga, and numerous players have since faced the public eye to explain the impact of the scandal before doubling down on their support of Eckert and each other.

Jack Stephens breaks Southampton Spygate silence

The latest player to speak out on the matter is club captain Jack Stephens, who has broken his silence ahead of the new campaign.

Action images

Stephens has spent virtually the entirety of his career on the south coast, with his voice holding particular credence among supporters, and he featured on 32 occasions last time out as a stunning surge in the second-half of the season saw Southampton finish fourth before edging past Middlesbrough in the play-offs - and then being dumped out to be replaced by the Teessiders at Wembley.

The 32-year-old did not play in either of the Saints' two play-off matches, but will have perhaps been feeling the effects of the scandal and sanctions even more than most owing to his close ties with the club.

Speaking to club media, Stephens opened up on what he described as a "really difficult situation", but soon lauded the togetherness of the team and Solak's backing and transparency while thanking fans for their constant support.

"I think, to be honest, it was a really difficult situation to go through,"

"I didn't have many answers myself at the time, so it was a really unfortunate position we were put in as players and as a football club.

"But these are the types of things that you have to bounce back from, and the players have been absolutely magnificent. The support from the support staff and all the staff around the club has been exceptional, the owner (Dragan Solak) and the way he publicly spoke over the summer was great to see because it allows everyone to see what sort of guy he is and that's just how we know him.

"He's unbelievably supportive and he loves the club, so I'm grateful that he was able to speak and the fans who have gone through so much and suffered with us get to see that. We feel their support every day, all through last season they were with us the whole way."

Southampton will have a target on their backs in 2026/27

Though hardly the fault of the players, who were equally unaware of what was going on behind the scenes under Eckert's secretive watch, the saga has placed an unfortunate target on the backs of all at Southampton heading into the upcoming campaign.

There is, it must be stressed, a growing feeling that a siege mentality is being fostered and harnessed within the Saints camp and players may indeed relish the animosity that will meet them throughout the season, not least when they face Middlesbrough.

Kim Hellberg's side are poised to represent a rival in any case owing to their mutual aims of competing for promotion once again, and there will be little love lost in the two showdowns between the two sides next term - namely on November 28 and then March 13.

Across the season's duration, then, Stephens will need to maximise his leadership qualities to ensure that his teammates remain together and up for the fight in what could prove to be a demanding and draining season - though not one without heaps of potential considering the volume of talent within Eckert's squad.