The EFL warned all 72 member clubs about their social media duties.
Trevor Birch, the EFL’s chief executive, has advised member teams against making social media posts criticising other clubs, which have increased since the Spygate affair last season.
Southampton were thrown out of the play-offs last season after being caught spying on Middlesbrough’s training ahead of the semi-finals, and two other examples were discovered during the investigation.
This season, they’ve become the butt of the jokes in social media posts disguised as ‘banter’, which the EFL has warned might inflict reputational damage and potentially violate EFL laws on ‘acting in the utmost good faith’ towards neighbouring teams.
According to the Daily Mail, Birch’s letter highlighted concern over a ‘increasing pattern of posts that use conflicts, disciplinary procedures, suspected malfeasance, or rival clubs as material for public ‘banter’.”
As one of the EFL’s 72 member teams, Borough received Birch’s letter. However, their social media output rarely contains jibes at rival clubs, and none of their content was recognised as potentially dangerous.
Following Spygate, Southampton became the focus of some. Wrexham and Birmingham City both made light of the disciplinary issue while announcing their season’s fixtures.
Wrexham inserted a ‘check training ground for unauthorised visitors’ on a calendar for the days preceding up to a match against Southampton, which was released on Fixture Release Day.
Birmingham City’s post on the same day announced the date of their match against Southampton by showing club insignia cut into hedges and viewable via binoculars.
Wrexham later mentioned Spygate again in the lead-up to the match against Tonda Eckert’s team. Owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac appeared in a promotional video, hiding behind a tree similar to the one at Boro’s training facility Rockliffe, when the Southampton intern was discovered by a Borough staff member.
The letter, first obtained by the Daily Mail, cautioned clubs: “While any one post may be perceived as an isolated lapse, taken collectively, they risk building a culture in which short-term engagement takes precedence over discernment, responsibility, and long-term reputation.
“This does not mean deleting humour, personality, or rivalry from club channels. It is about recognising when content becomes derogatory, prolongs a conflict, targets a person, or calls the integrity of a club or tournament into doubt.
“The impact goes beyond the clubs directly involved. Repeated public exchanges can exacerbate relationships, erode trust in the fairness and professionalism of our contests, and tarnish the collective EFL image.
“Recent media interest in perceived public disputes between Clubs illustrates how quickly individual posts can become a wider reputational issue.”
According to the Mail, the EFL is hesitant to be viewed as ‘killjoys’, but they have asked clubs to evaluate whether their content is ‘punching down’ or ‘targeting a specific Club or individual’.
Last week, Blackburn Rovers shared a video on social media of Scott Parker declaring he hadn’t seen any Rovers fans, before cutting to scenes of them celebrating their goals in a 2-1 win over Parker’s West Ham. They wrote, “Found some for ya, Scott.”
Borough are only a few weeks away from reuniting with Southamton at St Mary’s on Friday, November 27th. However, Borough would have avoided any mention to Spygate in social media posts even before the letter from Birch and the EFL.
Borough have been eager to move on from the situation following the completion of the EFL disciplinary processes.
Kim Hellberg said that he had forgiven Eckert after a phone discussion with the German during the summer, and then moved on when asked about the EFL’s decision not to ban the Southampton head coach.
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