We are bringing to an end our coverage and reaction to the news that Southampton boss Tonda Eckert has been given a six week ban, suspended until the end of next season, for his role in Spygate.

He has also been fined £28,000.

However you can listen back to the Radio Solent sport special below:

Image source, Dan Kerins

Glen de la Cour from the Total Saints Podcast said he was “relieved because it’s over mainly and we can all move on with the season” – but that he expects some will continue to debate the punishment.

“Obviously this won’t be the end of the discussion because this will be seen as lenient by a whole lost of people but – whatever the rights and wrongs of it – it does allow the football club to concentrate on the aim of the season, which is getting promoted,” he said.

“It feels like a dark cloud has been lifted but we’re going to be talking for a long time about the rights and wrongs of it.”

He added: “I do feel that it’s sensible but I didn’t think they were going to be sensible. I think because of the national media narrative over this – it was being portrayed as the football crime of the century – I did think that there was going to be change of management.

“But the aim of a punishment is to punish the wrongdoing, ensure the person changes their behaviour and send a message to anyone else that this is not something that you can do.”

Adam Blackmore looks back on the summer and how Southampton initially dealt with the allegations when they emerged.

“I think it’s easy to forget how badly they dealt with this at the start of it all. I don’t think it was easy to react so quickly to everything…but they didn’t cover themselves in glory,” he said.

“Whilst we’re all glad the club aren’t going to go through the wringer any more and normal service can be resumed now, I think we all hope that they learn from this. You want people to run the club so the club’s image is brilliant all the time.”

Dave messaged Radio Solent to say that the verdict from the FA is “spot on”, while Chris said: “Common sense has prevailed but not when the club needed it most back in May. Saints were dealt with far too harshly by the EFL.”

Patricia said that the verdict is “great news”, while Jane said the impending verdict had been a “huge dark cloud for months. Closure is sweet.”

Caller Sean said that he feels the verdict on Eckert was “quite lenient”.

He said the only way Saints and Eckert will win him over will be to get promoted back into the Premier League. “It’s as simple as that,” he added.

But Paul messaged in to say the verdict on Eckert was “very soft”.

“The way he threw junior members of staff under the bus was beyond poor,” he added.

Speaking to Radio Solent's Jono Holmes, former Saints striker James Beattie said he was “pleased” with the FA’s punishment on Eckert.

“I think everyone will be who’s associated with the club,” he added. “I think after the inquest from the EFL and the punishment that was handed down there, I think [the FA has] obviously not gone as harsh but I think they have been just in what they’ve done.”

He said that “hopefully it’s just in time for Sunday” – when Saints will play Portsmouth from midday.

Jo Tessem, who played for Saints between 1999 and 2005, joked he was “almost a little bit disappointed [with the verdict], with all these 153 days of waiting.”

He added: “I don’t know why they couldn’t have done this earlier if this was the case. The FA works really slowly. There might be some snails in there.”

Adam Blackmore said that despite all the waiting, it’s important to acknowledge that 1,000 pages of evidence needed to be combed through by the FA following the EFL’s investigation into Saints earlier this year.

“[The panel is] KCs, barristers of high standing who are busy in the world so I think part of the delay is likely about people getting together,” he said.

Image source, Getty Images

The controversy began in May when Southampton analyst intern Will Salt was photographed secretly filming Middlesbrough's training sessions and taking pictures of their tactics before last season's Championship play-off semi-finals.

He was caught, told to delete the footage and leave the area, but the Teesside club were furious and later contacted the EFL.

An investigation was launched and Southampton admitted to have also spied on Oxford United and Ipswich Town, with the independent commission concluding the espionage had been authorised by senior figures at the club, including head coach Tonda Eckert.

The Saints were subsequently thrown out of the Championship play-offs despite defeating Middlesbrough 2-1 over two legs, while they were also handed a four-point deduction for the 2026-27 season.

Boro were reinstated to the play-off final and went on to lose to Hull City, who secured their place in the Premier League.

Eckert took "full responsibility" and apologised for the incident but also added spying is common practice in Germany and Italy and insisted that "none of what has happened made any impact on sporting performance".

Southampton owner Dragan Solak decided against sacking Eckert despite the "mistake" the head coach made when authorising the spying campaign.

Live from 1800 BST, Jono Holmes will be joined by Adam Blackmore and Jo Tessem to discuss what has happened today.You can listen by hitting "Listen Live" above, on BBC Sounds or if you are in the Solent region on DAB or on 96.1FM.

Sports lawyer Trevor Watkins on BBC Radio Solent:

My view is that the club initially got hit too hard and this one was a bit too lenient.

They are seperate charges from seperate parties but the club and executive team have argued strongly and the panel have listened.

They've tried to even it out a bit and really it's now business as usual for Southampton, they can go into the weekend's game with a sigh of relief.

It's also a very small fine in relation to what coaches and managers are paid.

It shows that there is no certainty in football and while the rules are put down in black and white you just don't know what the consequences are going to be and I think that's something that football needs to have a look at.

• Eckert arranged spying on Oxford to establish whether they were playing a back four or a back five under a new manager.
• In the Ipswich case, the panel accepted that Eckert did not initiate the move to obtain CCTV footage of their training session.
• For the Middlesbrough semi-final, the panel accepted Eckert's evidence that he sent someone to the training ground to establish whether Boro midfielder Hayden Hackney was fit to play.
• The panel concluded there was "a contrived and determined plan from the top down to gain a competitive advantage in competitions of real significance by deliberate attendance at opposition training grounds for the purpose of obtaining tactical and selection information".
• The panel was "entirely satisfied" that Eckert was not aware the actions were in breach of the EFL rules or 'morally wrong'.
• The commission had "no hesitation in rejecting any suggestion of a systemic or organised course of conduct".
• "Spying on an opponent is a very serious offence", the panel said, while noting "that this does not prohibit observation of training outside of these hours".
• The panel found Eckert to be "a particularly impressive witness", who has "reflected very deeply and seriously on what has happened" and "his level of contrition was as deep and meaningful as could reasonably be expected".
• The panel was asked to consider that a ban of three months may cost Eckert his job - and concluded that this would "unquestionably be the equivalent of a further sanction being imposed" on the club. "We consider that this is a clear and compelling reason to suspend that part of the sanction which comprises the ban from all football and football related activity," the report said.

Southampton fan Mike Smale on BBC Radio Solent:

I breathed a very long sigh of relief when I heard.

I was shocked at how long it took them to come to this conclusion and why they left it through the entire international break which was pretty cruel.

I think as a club we had already been sufficiently punished, I'm sure others will disagree but that's my view.

Now that the decision has been made and we can move on it will make a difference, the stadium and the fans are massively behind Tonda.

Image source, Getty Images

Last month, Southampton CEO Phil Parsons praised the club's supporters after the tumultuous events following the Spygate scandal.

"Its been a tough summer, lets not pretend this has been an easy situation to get through," Parsons told BBC Sport.

"Not just for us, this is the fans coming together, this the community around Southampton, how businesses are impacted. You start going into 'how will season tickets go?' We've got incredibly loyal fans and they've come back in huge numbers and supported us."

Southampton reported in July, external that more than 15,000 supporters had renewed their season tickets for the 2026-2027 season.

The average attendance for their opening four Championship matches at St Mary's this season is 28,945, an increase on the 28,444 across the 2025-26 campaign.

Saints have published a video a Eckert celebrating with fans after a match at St Mary's, following the FA's announcement this afternoon.

Dan Roan
BBC sports editor

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Sport spoke exclusively to Tonda Eckert last month as the Southampton boss awaited the FA disciplinary outcome after being charged with misconduct in July.

When asked whether he felt the Saints have been punished enough, and if suspending him would be excessive, Eckert chose his words carefully.

"It's been a big, big punishment. Absolutely unheard of in the history of sports," the German said.

"And it's tough for me to say that because it concerns me... But I've asked for forgiveness for what I've done. I've apologised publicly.

"I think the punishment has been very hard on the club for the last season. And to go into a new season on minus four. And the rest is not for me to decide."

Image source, Getty Images

The FA said in July that Tonda Eckert "has been charged with three breaches of FA rule E3.1 in relation to misconduct between December 2025 and May 2026".

The governing body added: "It’s alleged that the head coach acted in an improper manner and/or brought the game into disrepute by directing and/or authorising the observation of training sessions of Oxford United FC, Ipswich Town FC and Middlesbrough FC ahead of fixtures between these clubs and Southampton FC in December 2025, April 2026 and May 2026 respectively."

The rule states that "a participant shall at all times act in the best interests of the game and not act in any manner which is improper or brings the game into disrepute or use any one, or a combination of violent conduct, serious foul play, threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting words or behaviour."

Image source, Getty Images

Tonda Eckert had no previous experience as a first-team manager before he took charge of Southampton on an interim basis in November 2025.

He only played football at an amateur level before working for the Germany national team as an analyst during the 2012 Euro and the World Cup two years later.

He served as an assistant coach at the youth teams of FC Koln, RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich before moving to his first senior role - as assistant manager at Barnsley in 2020 and then Genoa two years later.

Eckert had been Southampton's under-21s head coach when took over the first team after Will Still was sacked after just five months in charge last November.

Southampton, relegated from the Premier League the season prior, had made a poor start to this campaign but won four of the first five games under Eckert - earning him the permanent role in December.

Adam Blackmore
BBC Radio Solent's Southampton commentator

Southampton have come out of this with what some will see as a very favourable outcome for the club.

The biggest takeaway from all of this for me is that Dragan Solak got it right.

There would be none of this drama over the last few months if they sacked him there and then, but Solak was so determined to keep hold of Eckert.

He gambled on the FA letting him keep his job and that has worked.

This is a huge relief for Saints.

Image source, Getty Images

Prior to today's sanction from the FA, Southampton were thrown out of last season's Championship play-off final after admitting they spied on three clubs during the season.

It meant that the Saints missed out on a game dubbed the richest in world football, with the winners of the contest guaranteed a minimum £110m in Premier League broadcast revenue.

Middlesbrough, beaten by Southampton in the two-legged semi-final, were reinstated and lost to Hull City, who secured Premier League football.

The EFL charged Saints with watching training sessions involving Oxford United and Ipswich Town, in addition to filming Middlesbrough as they prepared for the first leg of their play-off semi-final on 7 May.

The independent disciplinary commission also handed Southampton a four-point deduction in the Championship for 2026-27 season.

The EFL said Southampton admitted to "multiple breaches of EFL regulations related to the unauthorised filming of other clubs' training" and received a reprimand in respect of all the charges.

Today, Eckert has been fined £28,000 by the FA as well as given a six week ban which has suspended until the end of next season.