Southampton players make new Middlesbrough admissions after Spygate scandal | OneFootball

Southampton have asked their players who they're looking forward to playing the most next season

The 2026/27 Championship lineup is filled with rivalries, the majority of which are being renewed after some time away.

The second-tier will play host to the likes of Cardiff City vs Swansea City, Wolves vs West Brom and Millwall vs West Ham once again, but alongside that, there's a new rivalry brewing between two sides at the opposite ends of the country.

Indeed, Middlesbrough vs Southampton will definitely be a fixture to look out for in the Championship next season in the wake of the spygate scandal between the two sides throughout their play-off clash last term.

The Saints were found guilty of spying on Kim Hellberg's training session within 72 hours of their play-off semi-final first leg. After winning the tie and progressing to the play-off final, Tonda Eckert's side would be expelled for breaching EFL regulations, with Boro reinstated to play Hull City for a spot in the Premier League.

Middlesbrough would lose that eventual final matchup at Wembley thanks to a late Oli McBurnie winner, meaning that Hellberg and Eckert will lock horns once more in the dugout next season in what is sure to be a blockbuster affair.

Southampton players admit to looking forward to playing Middlesbrough next season

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The EFL fixture lists are released on Thursday, marking one step closer to the 2026/27 campaign getting underway.

To build excitement ahead of fixture release day, Southampton posted a thread on X revealing the one game that a select few of their players are looking forward to next season.

In an ideal world, however, they would have known their schedule last Friday, when the Premier League's fixtures were announced. By their own admission, Saints players were robbed of the opportunity to contest for Premier League football, and, as is the case with people who feel hard done by, they often look to someone for blame.

Whether that should be Middlesbrough, the EFL, or those higher up the food chain at Southampton is a topic of debate, but nevertheless, some Saints players are looking forward to getting their hands on Boro next season to prove that they're better than them anyway, regardless of any spying.

Striker Cyle Larin, defender Mads Roerslev, and young forward Jay Robinson all outlined that the fixture they're looking forward to the most is Middlesbrough, with the latter adding that the game at St Mary's will be more exciting.

There's no doubt that it'll be a hostile atmosphere when Kim Hellberg's side makes the long trip to the south coast next season, but it seems like the resentment at Middlesbrough won't just stop at the fanbase.

How Middlesbrough fans have reacted to Southampton players' admission

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With Southampton and Portsmouth's derby being one of the fiercest in the EFL, it's rather telling that there were as many Middlesbrough responses as there were Pompey ones amongst the players.

Some Boro fans were seen in the comments poking fun at what they perceive to be an obsession over the Riverside-based club, effectively for no reason other than that they were the side to benefit from the Saints being expelled from the play-offs in May.

"Imagine being more up for a game against little old Boro than your main rivals," one Middlesbrough fan wrote in the replies. "Even the players are obsessed," another said. One fan called Southampton "Obsession FC."

Understandably, some replies were referencing Southampton's spying, with many gifs detailing people peaking out of bushes and with binoculars being seen. One even accompanied one with "you don't know already?", inferring that they had spied on the fixtures being compiled ahead of the release on Thursday.

This definitely won't be the last mention of Southampton spying this season on social media, especially ahead of the matchups with Middlesbrough.

It's clearly one of the first fixtures that fans of both teams, and neutral EFL fans, too, will be looking out for when they are released tomorrow.