Angry Southampton players speak out on spying scandal for the first time after they were THROWN OUT of £200m Premier League play-off – as manager faces the sack and stars plot transfers

The Southampton outfit have broken their silence on the Spygate scandal after the club lost its appeal against exclusion from the Championship play-off final.

Tonda Eckert’s team was expelled by an independent disciplinary commission on Tuesday. Daily Mail Sports He revealed that the Saints had sent a trainee analyst to monitor Middlesbrough’s training 48 hours before their semi-final first leg clash. They also dropped 4 points for next season.

Southampton admitted spying on their rivals and two other teams but appealed the sentence, which made promotion to the Premier League impossible for another year.

But that appeal was rejected on Wednesday and the decision stands, meaning Hull will face Middlesbrough at Wembley on Saturday.

And following this news, Saints stars Kuryu Matsuki and Leo Scienza expressed their anger and disappointment on social media.

Scienza shined in the 2025–26 season with seven goals and 10 assists in 37 Championship matches, a form that saw him named both fans’ and players’ player of the season at St Mary’s.

Tonda Eckert’s side were excluded from the Championship play-off final earlier this week

She posted a black and white photo of herself on her hip on her Instagram page, adding: ‘Disappointment, anger, sadness… It’s hard to find the right words for what we’re all feeling right now.

The events of the last few days are heartbreaking for the club, for every player in the dressing room and, most importantly, for our fans. A moment like this should never end this way.

‘I feel sorry for all the football fans caught up in all this chaos, as well as the players and supporters of Hull and Boro.

‘We gave everything for this dream. Day by day, making sacrifice after sacrifice, always believing that we can bring this club back to where it belongs. For me, the dream of playing in the Premier League was something I fought for with everything I had. That’s why this pain cuts so deep.’

Scienza continued: ‘The hardest part is knowing how much our fans deserve this moment. You stood behind us all season long with incredible passion, loyalty and belief. You carried us forward even in our most difficult moments.

‘Thank you for being with us through everything, you definitely deserved better.’

Matsuki shared a similar post, highlighting the fans’ role in Southampton’s dramatic transformation this season; this enabled the fans to move up to fourth place at the end of the campaign from 21 November.

He said: ‘To all the fans and supporters, thank you so much for your incredible support throughout this season.

It’s hard to put my feelings into words right now, but we set ourselves the goal of promotion to the Premier League from the beginning of the season and we fought together, supporting each other every day.

‘And without a doubt, all of you, our fans and supporters, were the ones who stood by us until the end and gave us the strength to keep moving forward. ‘Thank you so much for everything.’

Southampton star Leo Scienza shared a post on social media expressing his ‘disappointment, anger and sadness’.

Teammate Kuryu Matsuki also shared a post thanking fans for their ‘incredible’ support.

Being banned from Saturday’s final means Southampton, who beat Middlesbrough 2-1 on aggregate, miss out on football’s richest prize, worth £200 million for the winner.

Daily Mail Sports It was also reported on Wednesday that, with bonuses worth £250,000 being awarded to players who could win promotion, coupled with various promotion-related wage increases, the team may consider filing a class action lawsuit to sue their club for loss of earnings.

Many could now look for a move over the summer and many players are likely to attract interest given their impressive Championship performances this season.

Fans are also demanding refunds for the Wembley show and have called on the club to conduct an internal review and discipline those involved if necessary.

Southampton did not comment on Tuesday when asked if Eckert would be subject to internal disciplinary action.

However, it appears that the German pilot fears for his job and that his position may become untenable due to the impact of this story.

On the other hand, in the three matches Southampton admitted to eyeing during the build-up, Saints failed to win any of them; The most controversial of these operations took place before the 0-0 draw in the first leg of this month’s play-off semi-final.

Oxford, who sacked manager Gary Rowett two days before Christmas in December, suspected that caretaker coach Craig Short’s training was being monitored ahead of the Boxing Day match against Southampton. The club accepted this, but Oxford still won the match 2-1 in a shocking result at the time.

The Ipswich match in April was also a key clash in the promotion battle, but Southampton once again failed to win, adding to their woes in the saga as they drew 2-2.