Southampton just can't shake off Spygate, and this week it's Wrexham's Hollywood owners doing the needling. Ahead of Saturday's Championship meeting between the two clubs, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney released a video packed with pointed references to the scandal that saw Southampton thrown out of last season's promotion playoffs for unauthorized filming of opponents' training sessions.
"Today, for no particular reason, we want to talk about the importance of privacy," Reynolds says in the clip, stepping out from behind a tree, "specifically how to prevent spies from seeing what you're doing." McElhenney follows up: "Because there's some things that you just don't want any other people to see."
The pair make clear the message isn't just for Wrexham supporters but for fans of Oxford, Ipswich, Middlesbrough "and people everywhere" -- a nod to the three clubs Southampton admitted to spying on last season. The video, part of a promotion for Wrexham's front-of-kit sponsor Firefox, also has Reynolds emerging from behind a tree, referencing the moment a Southampton intern was caught filming a Middlesbrough training session from behind one, the incident that first blew the scandal open.
The fallout for Southampton
That episode led to an investigation, Southampton's expulsion from the playoffs -- costing the club a shot at promotion to the Premier League -- and a four-point deduction at the start of this season. Manager Tonda Eckert has since been charged by the Football Association with bringing the game into disrepute, with an arbitration panel describing the conduct as "a contrived and determined plan from top down to gain a competitive advantage."
A running joke among rivals
Wrexham has form here. During the offseason, upon learning it would face Southampton in the final match before the international break, the club posted the fixture with the caption "Taking us into the international break," alongside a spy emoji and a mock calendar reminder to "Check Training Ground" for unauthorized visitors.
Southampton's season opener at Watford brought more of the same, with home fans baiting Eckert's side and even the Watford mascot getting in on it, standing behind a goalpost and miming a pair of binoculars. On Saturday, Bristol City fans sang a song branding Southampton cheats within seconds of kickoff, while Southampton's own supporters responded by singing, "We spy when we want, we spy when we want, we are Southampton, we spy when we want."
On the pitch, Southampton has recovered from that opening defeat to Watford, winning four and drawing two of its next matches to sit ninth in the Championship table as it aims for another push toward the playoffs -- or perhaps even the automatic promotion places -- in pursuit of a return to the Premier League.
