Wrexham forward Josh Windass has called for the Championship playoffs to be restarted with his team included, following Southampton's expulsion from the postseason competition on Tuesday. An independent commission removed Southampton after the club admitted to three spying offences, including against playoff semi-final opponents Middlesbrough.
Appeal and Uncertainty
Southampton have confirmed they will appeal the sanctions, with a league arbitration panel convening on Thursday. The panel could uphold the original decision or reinstate the Saints, who also had four points deducted for next season. The EFL noted that scheduling remains subject to change pending the appeal outcome.
Windass's Proposal
Windass, whose Wrexham side finished one place outside the playoffs, suggested the four-team competition should be completely reset. "This Southampton story is one of the maddest I've seen," he wrote on Instagram. "But why isn't the play-offs starting again with the 4 other teams? Boro v Hull would have been the semi!! Confused." Without Southampton, Wrexham would have faced third-placed Millwall in the semifinals.
Current Status
The independent commission reinstated Middlesbrough, who will now face Hull City in Saturday's playoff final, pending Southampton's appeal. Boro players returned to training on Wednesday in anticipation of playing at Wembley. The EFL announced that if the final involves Boro and Hull, kick-off moves to 3:30pm; if Southampton's appeal succeeds and they play Hull, it remains at 4:30pm.
Southampton admitted to observing training sessions at Oxford in December and Ipswich in April, in addition to the Boro incident. All occurred after Tonda Eckert became head coach in early December.
