Credit: Imago

Evan Shaw

Wed 3 June 2026 15:17, UK

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Southampton will not be taking any further action in the Spygate saga, despite calling out the EFL in a statement earlier this week. 

That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Saints are now ready to move on from this “very disappointing episode.”

This comes after the South Coast outfit released a statement on Monday evening, noting connections to Middlesbrough for two members of the EFL’s disciplinary panel.

However, Wyness expects that was little more than a final jab at the EFL from the Saints, who he now believes will be keen to brush the saga under the carpet in the coming weeks. 

Southampton set to be ‘accused of being cheats’

Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – is in no doubt that Southampton will have to bear the cross of their misdemeanour throughout next season.

While he expects that Monday’s statement will mark the close to the story from their perspective, he acknowledged that their issues will undoubtedly not be forgotten by the rest of the Championship, even once the new campaign gets underway. 

Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness made it clear that he expects Southampton to be subject to ridicule from fans across the league next term. 

“There is something to be said about the fact that the independent panel was not completely spotless, and it should have been. If you’re going to start taking out sanctions to take a club away from that game, the £200million game, you better be sure that it’s clear,” he said.

“I don’t think Southampton are going to go forward and take any further action, but that is one area that the EFL’s got to be pretty sure that they get it right going forward. It’s been a very disappointing episode, this whole Spygate.

“It all happened in such a short period of time without the full issues really being known in the public to be debated and discussed. It’s something that Southampton have now got on their resume to go forward.

😤 "Everybody in football cheats!"

🤷‍♂️ "What do Southampton achieve by firing their manager!?"

Simon Jordan explains why #SaintsFC are right to keep Tonda Eckert despite the Spygate scandal! ✅🕵️‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/X97NPbdA52

— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) June 2, 2026

“You know what the banter is going to be in the grounds next season. Every time Southampton come, they’re going to get accused of being cheats. That’s their cross to bear now, but maybe that will bring them together and move them forward as a unit.”

Saints’ accusations ‘dangerous’ for the EFL

Wyness also told Football Insider that Southampton’s accusations are “dangerous” for the EFL after their statement questioned the integrity of their disciplinary panel.

He called back on his own experience from previous FA panels and pointed out that it can be extremely damaging if there is even a hint of “potential bias” within the panel. 

Wyness suggested that Southampton were right to call out the Middlesbrough connections, but also added that they have been “their own worst enemy” with the way that they have handled Spygate in general. 

He felt that their initial defence was not as strong as it could have been, and that set them on their path to ultimately being punished by being kicked out of the play-offs.