Hull City considering legal action after Southampton spygate verdict | OneFootball

Hull City are weighing up legal action after Southampton were replaced by Middlesbrough in the Championship play-off final.

Hull City will now face Middlesbrough on Saturday at Wembley rather than Southampton, after the Hampshire side were found guilty of spying on three clubs over the course of the Championship season.

The Saints have been struck with expulsion from the Championship play-offs and a four-point deduction next season after one of their analysts was caught recording a Boro training session in the lead up to the first leg of the semi-finals.

Following the Teesside club's complaint to the EFL and a hearing conducted by an independent disciplinary commission, Southampton admitted to spying on three clubs this season in Boro, Ipswich Town and Oxford United.

Throughout the chaos, Hull have been heading towards their big day in the capital unsure of who they'll be facing, leaving the Tigers with not long to prepare for the biggest game in their recent history now their opponents have been confirmed.

This has unsurprisingly left the Yorkshire club feeling rather aggrieved, which could ignite even more controversy in what is already a saga like we've never seen before.

Just four days before Hull are set to compete in the richest game in football, they'll now have to start preparing to face a different opponent to the ones they'd been expecting to face, following the outcome of Southampton's disciplinary hearing.

Unsurprisingly, this hasn't gone down too well at the MKM Stadium, as the Tigers feel they could be taking 'collateral damage' in the fallout from the verdict, according to the iPaper's Mark Douglas.

Hull are reportedly furious about being thrown into a situation that wasn't their making, and are taking legal advice over the uncertain nature of the fixture.

This could amount to the Yorkshire side taking their own legal action should they believe they've been treated unfairly throughout this saga, Douglas stated.

In an interview with the iPaper ahead of the verdict, sporting director Jared Dublin explained what steps the Tigers could take should the fixture be changed, which it now has.

“If that were to happen, we’ll seek our legal guidance and see what we can do," Dublin explained.

“The owner [Acun Ilicali] is very vocal about protecting our interests as anyone would be. It’s not just the club, the owner, the players and the staff, it’s the city as well and the potential for a big revenue boost for any city that hosts Premier League football.

“We’ll look after our own interests as anyone would.”

Picture this, you spend over a week preparing for the biggest game in the club's recent history, only to be told you'll be facing a different opponent in said game just four days before kick off.

Understandably, most people wouldn't feel this is fair, and it's hard not to agree. Spending all that time and effort on preparations only to have to start from scratch four days before the event certainly feels like a disadvantage for Hull.

Middlesbrough themselves even kept training after they were eliminated in case Southampton were expelled from the play-offs, and now it seems like they'll be more prepared for the game than their opponents.

All in all, it seems the fallout from this case could be mammoth, and this saga could rumble on for a long time after the final whistle sounds at Wembley on Saturday.