Southampton fans may no longer be seeing the funny side of the Spygate scandal after being handed the most severe penalty imaginable and being expelled from the Championship play-offs.
To compound matters, the club has also been handed a four point deduction ahead of next season's league campaign.
The impact of the EFL decision will decimate the club
The ripples of the EFL decision will be felt far and wide. Some key players will almost certainly leave for bigger clubs and better pay. The Head Coach could follow suit. The club's reputation and that of its entire staff will be tarnished by their actions for years to come. The club will miss out on a potentially huge Premier League windfall.
An internal investigation must now be conducted to identify who sanctioned spying on Oxford United, Ipswich Town, and Middlesbrough.
The outcome of that investigation must result in the removal of the staff member who sanctioned the spying. Technical Director Johannes Spors is responsible for his coaching staff and the actions of the wider group of analysts who have been highlighted.
Therefore, it is Spors who must conduct the investigation, assuming he was unaware of the spying himself.
It would be wrong to speculate how far up the food chain this goes at the club, and it would be wrong to speculate whether it included Head Coach Tonda Eckert.
The only way to claw back integrity is obvious
However, to claw back even an ounce of integrity in the eyes of the footballing world, the club must respond appropriately.
While some fans may argue that the club was treated unfairly and that the sanctions were the result of a witch-hunt, that misses the point entirely.
The rules are quite clear, and the club has ignored them. Little advantage has been gained from the spying, but a huge amount has been lost - sporting integrity being the most humiliating of them all.
Southampton fans are proud of their club, and the individuals behind spygate have let them down badly. The pure joy of winning the second semi-final and the incredible journey that fans have been on since Tonda took the job has proven to be for nothing.
It means nothing.
Everything that the club has achieved this season is tarnished by this verdict and nothing can be done to hide from that.
Ultimately, players will move on. The Head Coach might even go.
Southampton fans have been betrayed, and heads must roll. Not the poor sod who has been forced to go and spy on the opposition, particularly, but the cheating fool who sent him - whoever that was!
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