Credit: Imago

James Barker

Thu 7 May 2026 18:40, UK

Southampton have reportedly been involved in a spying incident similar to Leeds United‘s 2019 spygate controversy.

The 2018-19 Championship season became known to English footballing history as the year of spygate.

Indeed, Leeds were found to have sent a spy to watch promotion rivals Derby County conduct a training session, which then-Whites boss Marcelo Bielsa admitted he commissioned.

That was done prior to a Championship game they contested in early January 2019, and the EFL slapped a £200,000 fine on Leeds in February of that same year.

Fate would have it that Leeds and Derby met in the Championship play-off semi-finals that same term, and Frank Lampard’s Rams would have their revenge.

Southampton reportedly caught in Leeds-esque spygate event

Spygate left a lasting legacy on Bielsa’s Leeds spell, as English football had never seen anything like it then, nor have we witnessed anything similar since.

A new rule was even created that prohibits teams from viewing opposition training sessions in the 72 hours before a game, unless they are invited to do so.

As such, it was thought that Leeds’ spygate incident would go down as a unique and one-off incident, as surely nobody would dare try that again, would they?

Well, it would appear they have, and it pertains to this Saturday’s Championship play-off semi-final clash between Middlesbrough and Southampton.

In a report by the Daily Mail on Thursday evening, reporter Craig Hope has revealed that Middlesbrough have caught what is believed to be a Southampton first-team analyst allegedly recording their training session from a bush.

The report claims that the individual was approached by Middlesbrough staff on Thursday morning, and it’s claimed that that same individual deleted videos and picture from his phone and was unwilling to identify himself.

However, the report goes on to state that they are aware of the person who is alleged to have been involved, and that their public profile pages identify him as a current member of staff at Southampton.

Middlesbrough are now understood to have contacted the EFL, as if this is how it looks, Saints could be in bother, but either way, it adds a new layer of intrigue ahead of Saturday’s play-off semi-final at the Riverside.

Southampton may not have learnt Leeds’ lesson

As aforementioned, the football gods intervened during that 2018-19 season, and said that we simply have to have Leeds and Derby meet again in the play-offs.

And that they did, and it was the Rams who defeated the Whites 4-3 on aggregate over the two legs, contesting one of the all-time great play-off games at Elland Road for the second leg.

Derby won 4-2 that night, as Rams players and staff celebrated by shaping their hands into binoculars as the away end serenaded Lampard’s side.

Was that karma for Leeds’ spying scandal? Who knows. But the fact that Southampton have seemingly dared to defy the footballing deities in a similar fashion may well see them punished, as Boro now have all the fuel they need.