Suspicious Championship clubs reportedly reviewing CCTV after Southampton Spygate charge

The Championship play-offs have become overshadowed in recent days following allegations of spying ahead of the clash between Middlesbrough and Southampton.

Ahead of the first leg at the Riverside - a member of the Saints’ backroom staff was allegedly caught spying on a Middlesbrough training session.

The matter was referred to the EFL, and Southampton were hit with a charge from the league ahead of the two sides playing out a goalless draw on Saturday.

The highly charged clash between the two saw Middlesbrough fans turn up with binoculars and aim chants at their counterparts.

Saints boss Tonda Eckert was asked numerous questions about the alleged incident before and after the game - before he exited his post match press conference early.

The row continues to rumble on - with reports stating the Saints will not contest their EFL charge.

But the incident doesn’t look likely to go away quickly, with fresh reports claiming other Championship clubs are wary they may have been spied on.

According to talkSPORT, a number of Championship clubs are studying CCTV footage to see if they may have been spied on by Southampton during the campaign.

It is not known if one of these clubs is West Brom.

Elsewhere, reports in the Guardian have claimed that Middlesbrough have been approached by several other clubs, who have suspicions they may have been a victim of spying.

Again, it is not known of one of these clubs is Albion.

The report stated: “Other second-tier clubs have shared with the Guardian their surprise at the ease with which Southampton adapted to supposedly unexpected team shapes and appeared able to second-guess set-piece routines during an unbeaten run of 19 league games.”

The two sides will meet again on Tuesday evening for the second leg, and after the first leg on Saturday, Boro boss Kim Helberg insisted that every Championship club should be angry about the situation.

He said: “I think every club in the Championship should be angry about this … Some people say it [watching an opponents’s pre-match training session] doesn’t give you a big advantage. That’s wrong; it’s a massive advantage. Without it [spying] it would have been impossible for them to know our shape in the first half. We have never used that shape before today.

“It’s just unfair. It’s not OK. There was anger. There’s a loss of respect. It makes me disappointed. It was a big game and they saw everything we were doing – set pieces, goal-kicks, everything. “