If a team is found to be guilty of cheating they should be expelled from the competition

I agree with this.

I think it’s the only fair way

the EFL report was pretty damning

I think the part that I can't get over is that Southampton have done it multiple times and have actively, knowingly and willingly sought to get this data.

I have been to Southampton and security is pretty tight as it is with all Cat 1 Academies (training grounds). You have to go through a gate, be signed in, be on a list, have a reason to be there etc. Even when you visit as an opposing team you have to fill in spectator forms with full details including car registration. This is true for all of those clubs. If the first team is in your practically have to give a blood sample (no but you get what I'm saying).

What I am trying to say is that this was pre-mediated, calculated and took some serious thinking to pull off. More than one person, more than once.....

Because of this they deserve to be excluded and I hope their fans remember this.

Totally! He's mad. He was a short hop from suggesting they run the whole league again.

100% this. His picture and name is now headline media in the UK. It was a horrible thing for the manager to ask him to do.

Who would have guessed that Wrexham would find a way to make it all about them 😂

Yeah, but a) I think it should be about the intent rather than the outcomes - just because they were bad at spying, or didn't learn a lot from a particular incident of spying, shouldn't mean the punishment is any less. Their intent was still to spy and cheat.

And b), I'm a bit suspicious of those two other games (Oxford and Ipswich) being the other spying incidents they're admitting to. Nice and convenient, isn't it, to admit to two occasions where the spying didn't work out for you? Makes the spying seem much more low-key and trivial.

Ultimately, Southampton finished 4th in the table and won 22 games in the season. It feels unlikely it was only those three games (where they didn't win) where they spied. And the manager has admitted he thought it was normal back in Germany, where he's from, and that he didn't know the rule applied here....

Other clubs in the Championship were approached too, if see if they wanted to give any files or evidence to the hearing, but we just haven't heard about them (yet).

Aww it was a trainee? What a horrible thing to do. I really dislike football and mist other sports. . Money has corrupted everything.

If they’d won the matches I’d agree.

It was a loss and two draws.

They should let Southampton play the play off.

I read that Josh Windass, the Wrexham player, thinks the whole playoff process should be re-run with the 7th placed team replacing Southampton.

And the 7th placed team is….. Wrexham!

Be a slight injustice on Hull who got to Wembley fair and square. Would obviously never happen.

Your last point is a key one. This is a healthy precedent for how Man City should/could be dealt with.

I do feel a bit sorry for that intern though - I bet he was thrilled to get a job there and was just doing what he was told by his managers.

I think it’s hilarious. Skulking behind a tree with a mobile phone😂😂😂

Now also complaining the punishement is too harsh, so they think people should be free to do whatever they want rules or not then carry on like children ''its not fair someone else did something why do we get punished more'' footballers are role models do wrong and get punished simple

Their appeal has been dismissed. Southampton are out

No, it would have to be a Soton decision / choice.

The appeal hearing is happening right now. I’d love to be a fly on the wall!

Agree with being kicked out of the play offs, not sure the four point deduction is reasonable- it should be a larger amount perhaps suspended, or some restriction such as a transfer ban for a period.

I quite like that idea. But I don't think the EFLcould enforce it, could they?

I saw a suggestion elsewhere that all season ticket fans at Soton should have them renewed next season for free.

That's not a bad idea, actually. It has some financial element, and also encourages fans to come back and cheer on the team, which would help with the issue of losing bums on seats.

Yes, I think it's the multiple incidences of spying that have made the punishment so strong. It's systemic, rather than a one-off error of judgement.

Yes, it's possible to think the right decision was made, and that the appeal should fail, but still to feel sorry for their fans who didn't create this situation.

The club deserves to be kicked out of the play offs and have points deducted next season. The spying wasn’t a one off, it happened several times.

I do feel sorry for the fans though, they’re the ones that suffer most.

They'd expect to be at Wembley more than an hour before, so it'd be doable, if rushed. I wonder why they've suggested this, they never normally factor in return trains for Northern teams...

Also, even the fans of Hull aren't being spared the disruption. I just saw this on the BBC - basically saying that if it's Boro, then the match will kick-off one hour earlier. How many Hull fans will have made plans and booked trains that now mean they might not be able to do that?

I'm a sports fan. Different team, different sport, but if my club did this to the fans (especially the kids) I'm not sure I could forgive them. It's treating them with so little respect, they owe a massive apology to their own fans (as well as the other teams involved and the league).

The game has to be played by 31st May, and Wembley isn't available the following Saturday due to the Rugby League final. If they postpone the game, it will have to be played elsewhere.