It was all coming together nicely for Southampton, as a sensational run of form in the second half of the season, when they were unbeaten in their last 19 games including 14 wins, secured a place in the Championship play-offs.
Throw in a run to the FA Cup semi-finals, which featured a win over soon-to-be Premier league champions Arsenal, and everything in the garden looked rosy with head coach Tonda Eckert being acclaimed as a tactical genius.
However, the success story came to a grinding halt, as the Saints introduced the word “Spygate” into the football lexicon.
After a Southampton intern was discovered hiding behind a tree, filming a training session of their play-off opponents Middlesbrough, the club was sanctioned for a breach of EFL regulations. Indeed, the club admitted multiple offences, also including fixtures against Oxford United in December 2025 and Ipswich Town in April 2026.
In addition, Southampton received a four-point deduction that will be applied in next season’s Championship.
Southampton’s chief executive, Phil Parsons, accepted that there should be a sanction, but argued that this punishment was disproportionate, “Whereas Leeds United was fined £200,000 for a similar offence, Southampton has been denied the opportunity to compete in a game worth more than £200m and one which means so much to our staff, players and supporters.”
However, this seemed to spectacularly miss the point (or two points, actually), as the EFL had specifically implemented a new rule on spying after the Leeds’ case, while the size of the prize only strengthened the argument that the club deserved a meaningful punishment.
In any case, Southampton’s appeal was dismissed, as the commission said that they had conducted a “contrived and determined plan” to spy on opponents and that their treatment of junior staff was “deplorable”.
The club’s follow-up statement, issued a full nine days after the play-off final, was even more tone-deaf than the initial response, as it focused on a complaint about the composition of the disciplinary panel, while again failing to take full responsibility or apologise to the fans.
Instead, the club spent time patting itself on the back, “we are happy with the way in which we admitted the charges and offered our full cooperation and honesty once the formal EFL investigation process had started.”
Whoever is handling Southampton’s PR would do well to remember the old saying, “When you’re in a hole, stop digging.”
League Position
In truth, Southampton have been on a downward trend for a while.
They had long been held up as an example of a club punching above its weight, finishing in the top eight four seasons in a row during their 11-year stay in the top flight, but went down in 2022/23, finishing in 20th place.
They bounced back at the first attempt, but were then immediately relegated again with just 12 points, leaving them rock bottom. In fact, relegation back to the Championship was confirmed with seven games still to play, the earliest in Premier League history.
Ownership
The relegation in 2022/23 took place in the first full season under the control of Serbian media mogul Dragan Solak, who bought 80% of the club for £100m in January 2022 via his investment vehicle Sport Republic Limited.
However, the rot had already started to set in after Chinese businessman Gao Jisheng acquired a majority stake in 2017, with Katharina Liebherr retaining the remaining 20%.
Managerial Changes
There has been a huge amount of change since Solak’s arrival, as the club is now on its seventh permanent manager in less than four years, including three in the ill-fated 2024/25 campaign alone. Four of those managers failed to get past 17 matches, so the club has acquired something of a reputation for being “trigger-happy”.
In December 2024 they took “the difficult decision to part ways” with Russell Martin, who had led the Saints to promotion the previous season. However, his replacement, Ivan Juric, fared no better, so the Croatian exited stage left after just 107 days in the hot seat, leaving first team coach Simon Rusk to take charge on a caretaker basis until the end of the season.
Former Lens manager Will Still was the next to be handed the poisoned chalice in May 2025, but he only lasted 16 games, before he was replaced by Eckert in November, due to “the difficult start to the season”.
The team flourished under their young German coach, before Eckert switched from being a saint to a sinner (to coin a phrase).
Further Implications of Spygate
As well as missing out on the riches available in the Premier League, there could be other financial implications for Southampton:
The players are exploring their options regarding legal action against the club, as members of the squad who had taken 40% pay cuts after suffering relegation from the top flight were due to have that reinstated in the event of promotion to the Premier League.
Wrexham, the club that finished just outside the play-off places, could potentially argue that they were disadvantaged by Southampton’s cheating, so they might seek damages.
Southampton’s sponsors and commercial partners could claim money or even terminate the relationship, due to a breach of any clauses for reputational damage.
There has been pressure to refund supporters for both legs of the play-off semi-finals, as these games ultimately proved to be meaningless. In addition, the Fan Advisory Board has asked the club to freeze season ticket prices.
2024/25 Season
This raises many questions about the overall state of Southampton’s finances, which we shall address with a review of the latest available accounts from the 2024/25 season, which culminated in relegation from the Premier League to the Championship.
These accounts are obviously now a year out-of-date, but they do provide a good indication of the challenges that Southampton faced in the Premier League, while the prior year comparatives underline the club’s financial status in the Championship after their latest relegation.
Profit/(Loss) 2024/25
Despite promotion to the Premier League, Southampton swung from a £17.3m pre-tax profit to a substantial £53.9m loss, a deterioration of £71.2m, driven by a steep £94.4m reduction in profit on player sales from £123.0m to £28.6m.
Revenue rose £73.6m (87%) from £84.8m to £158.4m, but this was partly offset by an increase in operating expenses, which were up £46.9m (27%) from £173.6m to £220.5m. Net interest payable was also higher, rising £1.2m (6%) from £19.1m to £20.3m.
The year-on-year decline after tax was a bit smaller at £59.6m, due to an £11.5m tax charge in the previous season..
The main driver of Southampton’s £73.6m revenue increase was broadcasting, which more than doubled, rising £58.8m from £55.9m to £114.7m, as this is “significantly higher in the Premier League than the Championship”.
The other revenue streams were also up as a result of promotion with commercial nearly doubling, rising £11.3m (90%) from £12.6m to £23.9m, while match day increased £3.6m (22%) from £16.2m to £19.8m.
On the other hand, there was no repeat of the prior year’s £2.2m other operating income.
As would be expected, Southampton’s wage bill was a fair bit higher in the Premier League, rising £34.9m (43%) from £80.9m to £115.8m, though the other staff cost, player amortisation, was only up £1.6m (3%) from £51.2m to £52.8m. In addition, other expenses increased by £9.2m (24%) from £37.8m to £47.0m.
Southampton’s £54m pre-tax loss was obviously not great, but quite a few Premier League clubs did even worse. Chelsea led the way with an incredible £262m loss, followed by Tottenham £121m, West Ham £104m, Nottingham Forest £79m, Leicester City £71m and Brighton £56m.
