Did Southampton spy on Portsmouth and other Championship clubs? Spygate 2.0 suspicions grow
Championship sides are airing concerns over Southampton after they stand accused of ‘cheating’ amid the Spygate 2.0 controversy and EFL charge.
More Championship clubs fear they have been spied on by Southampton, as the Spygate 2.0 controversy deepens.
Reports have emerged that second-tier sides have contacted Middlesbrough to air concerns their training sessions have been watched by Pompey’s fierce rivals from along the M27, according to The Guardian.
And that is leading them to scour CCTV footage from their training grounds to search for any suspicious activity which points towards underhand tactics being employed.
Southampton, of course, have been charged by the EFL over allegations a staff member spied on Middlesbrough training sessions.
A man was approached who was allegedly recording Boro’s sessions, before changing his clothes and making his escape.
Southampton are reportedly not going to contest the EFL’s charges, with the matter now referred to an independent disciplinary commission and calls for punishments ranging from a fine to points deduction and even play-off expulsion.
Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg has been firm in his stance over the incident and his belief Southampton were ‘cheating’, in the event the allegations are found to be correct.
The controversy does raise a clear question over the extent to which similar tactics have been employed by Southampton, one now reportedly aired by Championship teams.
It’s been a storming run from Tonda Eckert’s side over the second half of the season, with their 19-game unbeaten sequence seeing them finish fourth.
One of the first games in that run came in the 1-1 draw at Fratton Park back in January, where Pompey made a number of surprise decisions amid huge injury issues. The leveller from John Mousinho’s side came via Ebou Adams scoring from a corner.
Training ground leaks have been a recurring issue for the Blues over the past couple of seasons, with Mousinho referencing the problem previously and the ease with which people could ‘spy’ on sessions.
He said in December 2024: ‘One of the things about our training ground is if you want to come down on a Friday morning and see the team we’re going to select the next day - then pay your membership and come and see it. That’s something that exists here for 98 per cent of games, and there’s never been an issue with it.
‘If people know the team beforehand that’s fine, but if you maybe couldn’t leak it on social media that’d be brilliant.
Mousinho ‘truly easy’ to ‘spy’ at Pompey’s training ground
‘There was one situation last season where a punter then put the team up on Twitter, but it didn’t get any traction maybe because there was a couple of strange selections.
‘There’s nothing we can do about it. We’ve come a huge way in a short space of time getting this facility up to scratch.
‘I think most people who come and work out at Pompey Health & Fitness are Pompey fans and are interested in team news. If you see the team and have a quiet word with your mate at the pub, then that’s absolutely fine.
‘I don’t think it’s too much of an issue, but the more we can keep things under wraps the better.
‘It’s truly easy to see. You can see both pitches from the gym, if you want to come and have a spy on a Friday morning.
‘There’s nothing we can do, we can’t put blinds up there between the hours of 10am and 11am on a Friday morning. People pay their membership and come in, that’s fine. They are very isolated incidents, but that would be my take on it.’