‘Manager loved it’: Tonda Eckert found to have initiated Southampton’s spying

• Interns were pressured into recording other clubs

• Head coach says he did not know actions broke rules

Southampton’s head coach, Tonda Eckert, initiated the practice of spying on opponents, according to new documents which also show that an intern tasked with recording rival training sessions was assured the “manager loved it”.

Southampton were expelled from the Championship playoffs last month after they were found to have spied on Oxford United, Ipswich and Middlesbrough. Eckert is under investigation by the Football Association and newly published remarks from the panel which rejected the club’s appeal against their expulsion lend credence to the belief he was central to the project.