The Football Association announced its decision concerning Tonda Eckert after the German admitted misconduct charges relating to the observation of opponents’ training sessions.
The club admitted using junior staff to spy on a training session held by play-off opponents Middlesbrough in May, and on sessions at Ipswich and Oxford earlier in the season.
Southampton subsequently beat Boro in their clash in May, and advanced to the final, but were expelled from the fixture amid the allegations of spying.
Rule E3.1 of the FA code states a “participant shall at all times act in the best interests of the game” and not in “any manner which is improper or brings the game into disrepute, or uses any one, or a combination of violent conduct, serious foul play, threatening, abusive, indecent, or insulting words or behaviour”.
The English Football League Championship (EFL) also carried out its own investigation that labelled Southampton “deplorable” for pressuring an intern to spy on their rivals.
The EFL only had the power to charge clubs, not individuals, during the probe.
In June, Eckert posted an apology video in which he took responsibility for “everything that has happened”.
“For everything that has happened, I do want to apologise and I hold my hand up because as head coach I am responsible,” he said.
“I am responsible for everything that has happened at this football club.”
He added that spying was common in other countries, though it did not “excuse anything that we have done”.
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