Eckert asks FA for 'forgiveness' as Southampton Spygate verdict set to land this week

Tonda Eckert is bracing for his FA verdict this week after revealing he spent nearly four hours in talks with football’s governing body over the Spygate scandal that has already cost Southampton a play-off final place and a four-point deduction to start the current Championship season.

The 33-year-old Southampton head coach was charged with misconduct by the FA in July after taking responsibility for authorising spying on Oxford United, Ipswich and Middlesbrough ahead of matches last season. The EFL described it as a “contrived and determined plan”, and Saints were expelled from the play-off final as a direct consequence.

“I’ve had the chance to sit down and just talk the FA through everything that happened,” Eckert told BBC Sport. “And now it’s up to them to make a decision. I don’t really have any emotions towards that. We sat for almost four hours, so it’s been quite a long conversation.”

Eckert, who issued a public apology in June, has appealed for leniency, arguing that the club has already absorbed an unprecedented level of punishment. “It’s been a big, big punishment. Absolutely unheard of in the history of sports,” he said. “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.”

The German coach maintained he was unaware of the rules he had broken and that Southampton had not gained a significant competitive advantage from the surveillance.

Southampton currently sit 13th in the Championship, though they would be fourth without the points deduction. A lengthy ban for Eckert would represent a further blow to a club already navigating a turbulent period.

Chief executive Phil Parsons has publicly backed Eckert throughout and insists the club have not sounded out replacement managers despite the looming threat of a suspension. “We don’t know what the FA will actually hand out,” Parsons said. “It could be a long ban. It could be a short ban. It could be a suspended sentence. What we hope as a club is they actually recognise where we are at the moment, and what we’ve already been through.”