Saints Expelled from Playoffs

[trousers]

1 hour ago, LGTL said:

One senior judge today is making the decision. Hopefully he’s a season ticket holder in the Kingsland. 

Given the current feelings amongst most (all?) Saints fans, that might not actually work in our favour! 😉

[Osvaldorama]

11 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

On tomorrow’s episode of Judge Rinder; man caught running into bank with machine gun, balaclava and large sack labeled ‘Swag £££’. Defence lawyer claims he only went in to apply for a professional studies loan.

 

If you look at the big football scandals down the years, it seems that trying to film a training session on a phone is now equivalent to years of financial doping, breaking actual laws, drugging players, and match-fixing.

[bangkoksaint]

3 minutes ago, saintant said:

Oh dear. It gets worse.

I've womdered whether us fans may be able to get onboard a class action

[SaintLondon]

1 minute ago, Toussaint said:

Who was buying everyone a beer?

Me. 

[Wade Garrett]

17 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

If Borough end up getting promoted then Gibbo has played an absolute fucking blinder, to be fair him

Don't get me wrong, he's a conniving little cunt but he's demonstrated a mastery of strategy, opportunism, execution, manipulation and influence that our vacuum cleaner salesman and his bunch of clowns could only dream of.

He has absolutely run rings round everyone in this, so far. 

Our board, the EFL, the panel, the media — everyone. 

He also had the massive advantage that we were guilty as fuck.

[trousers]

1 hour ago, maxi_sopez said:

To be honest they should scrap playoffs and just give the place to Milwall who came third. Easiest and fairest solution.

I did say about 2 months ago that the play offs should be scrapped and the top 3 go up.... Where's my medal??!!

[egg]

5 minutes ago, LegalEagle said:

Can’t believe we haven’t sacked him yet today. Mentioned earlier how this would potentially help with an appeal.

It won't help the appeal as it doesn't got to the panel getting the decision wrong. However, it may have helped in the tribunal if our investigation identified all those involved, whether directly or indirectly, and we'd dealt with them appropriately.

Binning them after the sanction won't make a blind bit of difference and looks desperately reactionary 

[Sheaf Saint]

5 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

You don't seem to understand the basic premise that that is basically exactly what defence lawyers are paid millions to do. 

They find ways to get people off, or if they can't get them off, to find ways to get their punishment reduced. That's the whole point of having a defence lawyer. 

Which they do successfully, a lot of the time. Hence why the good ones are so ridiculously well-paid and in-demand. 

Unless of course their client is a complete fucking idiot who admits to everything before the defence lawyer has had the chance to get their coat off.

Like - oooh, I don't know - Phil Parsons. 

"If the glove don't fit, you must acquit".

[SNSUN]

5 minutes ago, sambosa75 said:

Wonderful.  See you at Wembley 👍🏻

I can meet you there, 3pm on Saturday if you fancy a free drink.

Just make sure you're wearing full Saints kit, a pair of binoculars and a sign saying "Middlesbrough suck" around your neck, so I can recognise you. 

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

10 minutes ago, LegalEagle said:

Can’t believe we haven’t sacked him yet today. Mentioned earlier how this would potentially help with an appeal.

being as the club have said nothing how would we even know

[egg]

1 minute ago, trousers said:

I did say about 2 months ago that the play offs should be scrapped and the top 3 go up.... Where's my medal??!!

There's also been calls to scrap the 3rd promotion spot and make it 2 up/2 down this season. 

There'll be all sorts of overspill from this - there's no right or wrong solution, and so many clubs have credible (ish) arguments. 

[SNSUN]

2 minutes ago, trousers said:

I did say about 2 months ago that the play offs should be scrapped and the top 3 go up.... Where's my medal??!!

It was reneged after you were caught spying on SaintsWeb members.

[Lord Duckhunter]

3 minutes ago, Osvaldorama said:

 

If you look at the big football scandals down the years, it seems that trying to film a training session on a phone 

Tell me you don’t still believe this was all it was. 

[tisspahars]

For those of you who think there is "literally zero chance" of us being reinstated....you can currently lay us at around 7/1 to get promoted on Betfair. Pretty good interest rate for a few hours work.

[Sheaf Saint]

1 minute ago, egg said:

It won't help the appeal as it doesn't got to the panel getting the decision wrong. However, it may have helped in the tribunal if our investigation identified all those involved, whether directly or indirectly, and we'd dealt with them appropriately.

Binning them after the sanction won't make a blind bit of difference and looks desperately reactionary 

But the fact that the EFL expedited the hearing and refused our request to be granted sufficient time to conduct a full internal review might come into play here.

[SNSUN]

Just now, egg said:

There's also been calls to scrap the 3rd promotion spot and make it 2 up/2 down this season. 

There'll be all sorts of overspill from this - there's no right or wrong solution, and so many clubs have credible (ish) arguments. 

Money money money. They'll never scrap the play-offs - they only just made them bigger! The only other thing they could do is have two up two down and then 3rd and 4th in the Championship playing 18th and 17th in the Prem. But that would be madness. Imagine us up against Spurs...

[Saint86]

28 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

If Borough end up getting promoted then Gibbo has played an absolute fucking blinder, to be fair him

Don't get me wrong, he's a conniving little cunt but he's demonstrated a mastery of strategy, opportunism, execution, manipulation and influence that our vacuum cleaner salesman and his bunch of clowns could only dream of.

He has absolutely run rings round everyone in this, so far. 

Our board, the EFL, the panel, the media — everyone. 

I think we all know exactly what has happened here, although it will never be proven.

We sacked this Taylor(?) chap that we hired from boro. When we got Boro in the playoffs, he ran straight to the club to do a deal with them knowing salt would likely turn up, they were then ready and waiting with a media team to snap him in "4k" or whatever it was (the irony that he had better equipment than our spying analyst...)... and then Gibbo's got the extra "whistle blower" details out of him, had it to hand, and essentially ambushed us with it via the EFL a couple of days before the formal hearing. Which has included Taylor being in possession of previous whatsapp calls and images from his employment at saints. Reckon we were going to get done for this from the minute we got boro in the playoffs. Fully stitched up, even if it is our own fault.

What they didn't count on, and what was an additional bonus, was Parsons being so incredibly stupid. 

Regardless though, Gibbo has played this superbly - and with the added factor of having the boro ceo as the Championship representative on the EFL board, Middlesborough have milked it for all its worth, including jumping ahead of Millwall, and getting a very obvious sporting advantage over Hull.

We meanwhile can join Derby on the list of clubs ruined by Gibson. Men against boys at boardroom level.

Edited 2 hours ago by Saint86

[trousers]

 

 

A statement from Phil Parsons, Chief Executive, Southampton Football Club.

 

We have appealed yesterday's decision by the Independent Disciplinary Commission to expel Southampton Football Club from the Sky Bet Championship Play-Offs, and to impose a four-point deduction for the 2026/27 season. Before turning to that appeal, I want to address our supporters, our players, and the wider football community directly and without equivocation.

 

What happened was wrong. The club has admitted breaches of EFL Regulations 3.4 and 127. We are sorry to the other clubs involved, and most of all to the Southampton supporters whose extraordinary loyalty and support this season deserved better from the club.

 

We have provided our full co-operation to the EFL's investigation and disciplinary process. Following the appeal, we will also be writing to the EFL to volunteer our participation in a working group on the practical application and enforcement of Regulation 127 across the Championship. Contrition without change is hollow, and we intend to demonstrate change.

 

On the appeal itself: we accept that there should be a sanction. What we cannot accept is a sanction which bears no proportion to the offence. 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 £200 million and one which means so much to our staff, players and supporters.

 

We believe the financial consequence of yesterday's ruling makes it, by a very considerable distance, the largest penalty ever imposed on an English football club. Luton Town's 30-point deduction in 2008/09 — to date the most severe sporting sanction in the English game — was levied against a club already in League Two, with no comparable revenue at stake. Derby County's 21-point deduction in 2021 cost them their Championship status. Everton's eventual six-point deduction in 2023/24 followed losses of £124.5 million, a figure dwarfed by what has been taken from Southampton in a single afternoon. The largest financial penalty ever levied by the Premier League, against Chelsea in March of this year, was £10.75 million, and was accompanied by no sporting sanction whatsoever despite involving £47.5 million in undisclosed payments over seven years.

 

We say this not to minimise what occurred at this club, which we have accepted was wrong. We say it because proportionality is itself a principle of natural justice. The Commission was entitled to impose a sanction. It was not, we will argue, entitled to impose one that is manifestly disproportionate to every previous sanction in the history of the English game.

 

Our appeal will be heard today, and we will provide a further update in due course.

Edited 2 hours ago by trousers

[egg]

1 minute ago, Sheaf Saint said:

But the fact that the EFL expedited the hearing and refused our request to be granted sufficient time to conduct a full internal review might come into play here.

I don't see that as realistic. The regulations allow for the 14 days for the panel (then 14 days for the appeal) to be brought forward. Investigating this shouldn't have taken the club long, and dealing with those guilty should have then been done promptly. This feels like we went along yesterday waiting for a decision and would then react. Any decent advice would have been to get on top of it, and deal with it proactively. If we haven't done that, we haven't helped our cause.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Just now, trousers said:

 

 

Finally. Something. 

[DrSuess1979]

2 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

I think we all know exactly what has happened here, although it will never be proven.

We sacked this Taylor(?) chap that we hired from boro. When we got Boro in the playoffs, he ran straight to the club to do a deal with them knowing salt would likely turn up, they were then ready and waiting with a media team to snap him in "4k" or whatever it was (the irony that he had better equipment than our spying analyst...)... and then Gibbo's got the extra "whistle blower" details out of him, had it to hand, and essentially ambushed us with it via the EFL a couple of days before the formal hearing. Which has included Taylor being in possession of previous whatsapp calls and images from his employment at saints. Reckon we were going to get done for this from the minute we got boro in the playoffs. 

What they didn't count on, and what was an additional bonus, was Parsons being so incredibly stupid. 
 

👍🏼

nailed on I reckon 

[Midfield_General]

4 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

"If the glove don't fit, you must acquit".

Precisely. 

Apparently Johnny Cochrane should have just said 'Yeah, he obviously did it so there's no point pretending otherwise, it's a fair cop' as his client had 40,000 volts put through him. 

[The very right reverend]

Middlesbrough played a blinder by the fact they knew 48 hours before the game they were spied on, protested and knew if they played the game and lost they had a huge get out of jail card, they could have asked for a postponement but continued, secondly its no coincidence Oxford and Ipswich are involved, they're out of the League and points lost or possibly so make no difference to them.

[CSA96]

Club statement: https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/news/article/club-statement-20th-may-2026

[Addict54]

Statement out

[LegalEagle]

Just pulling together my claim against the club should the appeal fail. One element relates to betting. I have a 6 fold acca I did a couple of weeks back which if it comes off will net me £700’ish. Arsenal to win the title, City to win the FACup, Villa to win the Europa, Palace the Conference, PSG the Champions League and Saints the Play Offs. If Saints don’t get back in my bet is fucked. If the others come in, should I sue Saints for a lost opportunity? I cannot be the only one with an open bet that includes Saints.

[trousers]

2 minutes ago, trousers said:

Following the appeal, we will also be writing to the EFL to volunteer our participation in a working group on the practical application and enforcement of Regulation 127 across the Championship. Contrition without change is hollow, and we intend to demonstrate change.

Alluding to other clubs committing the same offence historically there I guess...?

[Guided Missile]

38 minutes ago, Mr X said:

We will be lucky to stay in the championship though! I can see all our better players jumping ship and we will be left with Deadwood and struggle to recruit as who wants to come here

I have fond memories of the Johnson's Paint Trophy and Rickie Lamberts many goals in Div 1. I could live with that again.

[hypochondriac]

2 minutes ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Finally. Something. 

Should have sent that yesterday to be honest. Doesn't tell us anything we don't already know other than a working group which is maybe a subtle way of saying that we know it goes on everywhere.

[Divergent]

Phil Parson’s statement now made. 

[Addict54]

The “working group” thing translated = everyone knows that this stuff goes on all the time 

[egg]

3 minutes ago, trousers said:

 

 

A statement from Phil Parsons, Chief Executive, Southampton Football Club.

 

We have appealed yesterday's decision by the Independent Disciplinary Commission to expel Southampton Football Club from the Sky Bet Championship Play-Offs, and to impose a four-point deduction for the 2026/27 season. Before turning to that appeal, I want to address our supporters, our players, and the wider football community directly and without equivocation.

 

What happened was wrong. The club has admitted breaches of EFL Regulations 3.4 and 127. We are sorry to the other clubs involved, and most of all to the Southampton supporters whose extraordinary loyalty and support this season deserved better from the club.

 

We have provided our full co-operation to the EFL's investigation and disciplinary process. Following the appeal, we will also be writing to the EFL to volunteer our participation in a working group on the practical application and enforcement of Regulation 127 across the Championship. Contrition without change is hollow, and we intend to demonstrate change.

 

On the appeal itself: we accept that there should be a sanction. What we cannot accept is a sanction which bears no proportion to the offence. 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 £200 million and one which means so much to our staff, players and supporters.

 

We believe the financial consequence of yesterday's ruling makes it, by a very considerable distance, the largest penalty ever imposed on an English football club. Luton Town's 30-point deduction in 2008/09 — to date the most severe sporting sanction in the English game — was levied against a club already in League Two, with no comparable revenue at stake. Derby County's 21-point deduction in 2021 cost them their Championship status. Everton's eventual six-point deduction in 2023/24 followed losses of £124.5 million, a figure dwarfed by what has been taken from Southampton in a single afternoon. The largest financial penalty ever levied by the Premier League, against Chelsea in March of this year, was £10.75 million, and was accompanied by no sporting sanction whatsoever despite involving £47.5 million in undisclosed payments over seven years.

 

We say this not to minimise what occurred at this club, which we have accepted was wrong. We say it because proportionality is itself a principle of natural justice. The Commission was entitled to impose a sanction. It was not, we will argue, entitled to impose one that is manifestly disproportionate to every previous sanction in the history of the English game.

 

Our appeal will be heard today, and we will provide a further update in due course.

FFS, that's a shite response and full of false equivalence. It misses completely the integrity of the game issue, and only mentions our potential losses, without acknowledging that's exactly what we were trying to gain. 

If that article demonstrates our approach, we're fucked in the appeal. 

[Saint86]

Its a reasonable statement in fairness. And its a direct hand grenade and challenge thrown at the EFL that will need resolution re the level of the sanction. This will now be a major talking point at least. Still not contrite enough though. 

Edited 2 hours ago by Saint86

[bpsaint]

12 minutes ago, bangkoksaint said:

I've womdered whether us fans may be able to get onboard a class action

Somebody pointed out a few pages ago that by not stating the possible punishments as part of the rules and regulations to the playoff games, that the EFL had breached Consumer Rights Laws.

Seems insignificant compared to all the issues going on currently but if a solicitor was willing to take the case on then yes, a class action lawsuit could be filed against the EFL for the cost of the playoff tickets to anybody that bought one. Including Boro fans.

[Addict54]

Hardly even makes sense. Ridiculous 

[SNSUN]

I agree with him - it is a completely disproportionate punishment and one that is financially massive but I can't see us being reinstated off the back of this. Hollow words that should have come as soon as yesterday's ruling took place.

[Mattio]

The crisis PR agency have finally sent over "Parson's" statement then...

[James]

I think that’s about as good a statement as they could have put out to be honest. Straight to the point. 

[Saint Scott]

3 minutes ago, LegalEagle said:

Just pulling together my claim against the club should the appeal fail. One element relates to betting. I have a 6 fold acca I did a couple of weeks back which if it comes off will net me £700’ish. Arsenal to win the title, City to win the FACup, Villa to win the Europa, Palace the Conference, PSG the Champions League and Saints the Play Offs. If Saints don’t get back in my bet is fucked. If the others come in, should I sue Saints for a lost opportunity? I cannot be the only one with an open bet that includes Saints.

Id imagine that leg of the bet will just be voided and the odds adjusted accordingly

[saintant]

6 minutes ago, trousers said:

 

 

Unfortunately the statement fails to acknowledge the existence in this case of Gibbo's Law.

[egg]

Just now, James said:

I think that’s about as good a statement as they could have put out to be honest. Straight to the point. 

But missing the point as the panel and appeal will see it. 

[badgerx16]

31 minutes ago, johnnyboy said:

Yes but our punishment should not reward Boro , 

What do Oxford get out of this ?

[Midfield_General]

Wow, we've volunteered to be part of a working group. 

Take that, Gibbo! There's a new boss in town!!!!

Fucking mug

[James]

10 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

I think we all know exactly what has happened here, although it will never be proven.

We sacked this Taylor(?) chap that we hired from boro. When we got Boro in the playoffs, he ran straight to the club to do a deal with them knowing salt would likely turn up, they were then ready and waiting with a media team to snap him in "4k" or whatever it was (the irony that he had better equipment than our spying analyst...)... and then Gibbo's got the extra "whistle blower" details out of him, had it to hand, and essentially ambushed us with it via the EFL a couple of days before the formal hearing. Which has included Taylor being in possession of previous whatsapp calls and images from his employment at saints. Reckon we were going to get done for this from the minute we got boro in the playoffs. Fully stitched up, even if it is our own fault.

What they didn't count on, and what was an additional bonus, was Parsons being so incredibly stupid. 

Regardless though, Gibbo has played this superbly - and with the added factor of having the boro ceo as the Championship representative on the EFL board, Middlesborough have milked it for all its worth, including jumping ahead of Millwall, and getting a very obvious sporting advantage over Hull.

We meanwhile can join Derby on the list of clubs ruined by Gibson. Men against boys at boardroom level.

This is almost certainly what happened. 

[Pamplemousse]

He's right, it is unprecedented and disproportionate. Whether or not anything will happen though, I'm not optimistic.

[James]

Just now, egg said:

But missing the point as the panel and appeal will see it. 

Well not really - if you’ve already accepted the charges, all you can do is appeal the severity of the penalty being imposed which, as the statement points out, is completely disproportionate.

[hypochondriac]

3 minutes ago, egg said:

FFS, that's a shite response and full of false equivalence. It misses completely the integrity of the game issue, and only mentions our potential losses, without acknowledging that's exactly what we were trying to gain. 

If that article demonstrates our approach, we're fucked in the appeal. 

What else was he supposed to say at this point? We've admitted the offence, the only card we have is a plea for mitigation based on proportionality.

[S-Clarke]

It's a good statement, we all wanted one, so they put it out there. Apologies prevalent in it too, which is the least we can do. We've finally held our hands up in public.

The arguments we've put forward regarding the proportions are fair, I think we all agree. But the reasoning around why feels a little woolly. I hope our case is stronger than that.

[Midfield_General]

1 hour ago, Saint86 said:

I think we all know exactly what has happened here, although it will never be proven.

We sacked this Taylor(?) chap that we hired from boro. When we got Boro in the playoffs, he ran straight to the club to do a deal with them knowing salt would likely turn up, they were then ready and waiting with a media team to snap him in "4k" or whatever it was (the irony that he had better equipment than our spying analyst...)... and then Gibbo's got the extra "whistle blower" details out of him, had it to hand, and essentially ambushed us with it via the EFL a couple of days before the formal hearing. Which has included Taylor being in possession of previous whatsapp calls and images from his employment at saints. Reckon we were going to get done for this from the minute we got boro in the playoffs. Fully stitched up, even if it is our own fault.

What they didn't count on, and what was an additional bonus, was Parsons being so incredibly stupid. 

Regardless though, Gibbo has played this superbly - and with the added factor of having the boro ceo as the Championship representative on the EFL board, Middlesborough have milked it for all its worth, including jumping ahead of Millwall, and getting a very obvious sporting advantage over Hull.

We meanwhile can join Derby on the list of clubs ruined by Gibson. Men against boys at boardroom level.

Yup. I think you've nailed it. 

Edited 44 minutes ago by Midfield_General

[Sheaf Saint]

He makes a good point about the disproportionality, but if our entire appeal case is essentially "it's not fair! Please let us back in" then we might as well not bother even turning up.