Why Southampton made sudden Wembley ticket u-turn amid Spygate investigation | OneFootball

The Saints' off-pitch actions ahead of the semi-finals have landed them in hot water

Southampton's upturn in form from the middle of January onwards saw the South Coast club and head coach, Tonda Eckert, receive plenty of praise, but that has started to dissipate in recent days amid the ongoing spygate investigation.

Indeed, Saints have only tasted defeat once in all competitions since January 17th, with said loss coming in the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City, when Jeremy Doku and Nico Gonzalez's late strikes saw the encounter turned on its head after Finn Azaz put the Championship side ahead through a stunning curling effort.

The aforementioned occasion was also Southampton's second visit to Wembley in less than two years, having overcome Leeds United in the play-off final back in May 2024.

And, at least on the pitch in terms of results, Eckert's men are bound for the national stadium as they defeated Middlesbrough over two legs in this season's play-off semi-finals.

As was the case in their two-legged affair with West Bromwich Albion two years ago, Saints held their opponents to a goalless draw in the away leg before emerging victorious at St Mary's.

Riley McGree initially put Kim Hellberg's side in front in the opening minutes, before Ross Stewart levelled up on the stroke of half-time. Shea Charles was then the hero in the final minutes of extra-time with a cross-turned-shot which curled past Sol Brynn.

Normally, the achievement of reaching Wembley would lead to major celebrations, but as previously mentioned, the ongoing investigation into spygate has left Saints supporters, and those of their opponents, Hull City, in the dark.

Southampton make U-turn on Wembley ticketing information ahead of Hull City play-off final

After Hull defeated Millwall over two legs on Monday evening, it was initially suggested by the Tigers that ticketing details would be released on Wednesday, ahead of them being officially available for purchase later in the week.

Despite the ongoing spygate saga, which has seen pictures emerge of the alleged Southampton intern analyst filming and photographing Middlesbrough training sessions at Rockliffe Park, Saints released an initial update via X of similar wording.

However, the Hampshire outfit caused even more drama to the developing situation by prematurely releasing ticketing information on their website and a post regarding said update on their social media channels.

The article included how Southampton supporters would see their batches of tickets released depending on the number of fixtures attended over the course of the season, which included the FA Cup semi-final against Pep Guardiola's side as the first appeared set to go on sale at 9:30AM on Friday, May 15th.

But, shortly afterwards, these details were swiftly removed from the website, although it has been reported that this is due to the fact both Saints and Hull are expected to release ticketing information at the same time.

Unsurprisingly, though, with a kick-off time still not yet confirmed, it has led to more questions as to whether Eckert's team could still be removed from the play-offs, with an independent disciplinary commission set to review the matter.

Spygate situation is affecting Hull City as well as Southampton and Middlesbrough

Although not directly involved in the situation, spygate is certainly impacting those of a Hull persuasion, as Sergej Jakirovic's men reconvened for training on Thursday.

It has been reported that the Tigers squad are preparing as if they were to play Saints for a third time this season, having already done the league double over them at the MKM Stadium and St Mary's.

Naturally, though, the main frustration is coming from supporters of either club, as travel arrangements have to be made at such short notice, and that has been made extremely tough without a kick-off time being confirmed.

Meanwhile, it has already been confirmed that both the League One and League Two play-off finals will kick off on Sunday, May 24th and Monday, May 25th at 3PM respectively.