Graham Hiley shares his thoughts on Southampton FC’s expulsion from the play-off final at Wembley.
What Saints have done is sneaky, stupid and sickening. I am absolutely not going to defend their pathetic behaviour.
BUT…
The punishment has to fit the crime – and Southampton have probably been hit by the hardest and harshest penalty ever dished out in the history of football.
By expelling the club from Saturday’s Play-Off final against Hull City, the Football League have effectively imposed a £200m fine on top of a four-point deduction for next season.
And that is the basis of Saints’ appeal which will be heard on Wednesday by a completely different three-person panel – hopefully one which will take a more measured look at the offences committed.
The club have admitted spying on Middlesbrough ahead of the first leg of their play-off semi-final and then also owned up to doing the same before a December game at Oxford and a home clash with Ipswich.
It may not be the strongest legal defence but are we quite sure the spy was not a double-agent? If not, then it was probably the world’s worst undercover operation as Saints lost one and drew two of those three fixtures!
Taking that out of the equation and still recognising the underhand nature of the offence, this punishment does not in any way reflect the impact of what happened and any advantage gained.
It is clearly a breach of Rule 127 stating no club shall observe their opponents training within 72 hours of a game. And it is absolutely deserving of a severe sanction.
Heads must roll for this! Anyone involved in the so-called Spygate scandal should be sacked and banned from football.
But expulsion? Seriously? This is way beyond the realms of reason. Yes, I am a Saints fan and yes I am very angry but I am also trying to keep a sense of perspective. This punishment is off the scale.
The EFL presumably want to send a harsh deterrent to any other club thinking of sending an intern to lean against a tree with a mobile phone.
But they have opened up the possibility of a whole raft of legal challenges.
If Hull lose on Saturday, they could claim they had prepared all week to face Southampton not Middlesbrough. And they may well argue Boro had no right to be given a bye to the final.
The Tigers might actually have a strong case to say they should simply be promoted with a walk-over. Why do Boro’ get handed a free pass when they have already been knocked out?
I do feel desperately sorry for Hull and their fans who are blameless and have been caught up in a mess not of their making but have behaved impeccably throughout.
If Saints are expelled retrospectively then maybe seventh-placed Wrexham should claim they were robbed of a place in the playoffs and should face Millwall – that’s if both teams can be brought back from the beach.
Hull would then face Boro over two legs with a Wembley final some time after Harry Styles has finished his run of concerts there.
Oh… and I want a refund for the second leg against Boro which was actually just a meaningless friendly!
And then there is the issue of the “big clubs” – Chelsea with their 74 charges and Manchester City with 115 alleged Financial Fair Play offences.
Although those will come under the jurisdiction of the Premier League and the FA, will they be expelled or have honours retrospectively stripped if they are found to have cheated?
Football matches should be decided on the field, not in the boardroom – and certainly not with the benefit of hindsight.
In that case, let’s replay the 2017 League Cup final when Manolo Gabbiadini’s opener for Southampton was wrongly disallowed against Manchester United! (Obviously we wouldn’t go back as far as the 1976 FA Cup final.)
Whatever the outcome of the appeal, Saints’ reputation has been severely tarnished not just with neutrals who often had a soft spot for the homely club but with their own fans.
How are the Southampton hierarchy ever going to make amends to the thousands they have let down by destroying their dreams and their pride in the club?
Don’t let them dare increase prices to try and recoup these losses of their own making!
Hopefully the appeal will be successful to allow the 37,000 Saints fans who have already bought tickets to follow the team to Wembley on Saturday.
If not, then I hope Hull win!
Graham Hiley covered Saints for the Southern Daily Echo from 1988 to 2001 and then became the club’s managing editor until 2008. He now teaches Sports Journalism at Southampton Solent University and is a season ticket holder at St Mary’s.
* Image shows Saints Vs Hull.
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