The EFL added a rule on spying after the Leeds incident in 2019. Regulation 127, which states that "no club shall directly or indirectly observe (or attempt to observe) another club's training session in the period of 72 hours prior to any match." The problem is that the punishment is an ambiguous "significant penalties" including Points Deductions and / or Financial Penalties.

Clubs have loads of hangers on these days they can just say he was freelance and deny responsibility

Also, if the EFL haven't got rules in place to ban Southampton, they should just fine them like they did with Leeds(?) a few years ago and then make up a new rule for this sort of thing from now.

Has it been proven yet whether the "spy" was actually anything to do with Southampton ? I haven't seen anything myself to confirm he was. Could it not have been a member of the press/media.

Yes the EFL may well stand back but if not Hull are entitled to compensation, they have done nothing wrong to have their bank holiday visit to Wembley ruined. Wembley is also booked up the following two weekends so the match would presumably be moved elsewhere. Clobber Southampton with a points deduction and big fine when they are in the EFL and let the game go ahead.

The bloke who use to present picture box if you went to school has popped his clogs

The ref has his can of shaving foam. Mark where the throw position is. Simples. (new para) In snooker, when ball(s) have to be replaced, I see a use for laser technology there, instead of ages spent goofing around as they currently do. A dot marks the spot, iyswim.

So they both come down to one end where the play is to potentially mark where a throw in should be, a quick transition and they are 30 yards or more behind the play to judge an offside or a foul. The positioning of throws ought to be way down their list of duties, in fact not on them as now.

I think it’s a bit of sabre rattling from the EFL tbh. Can’t be good for Southampton’s preparations and it’s not the players’ fault that all this has gone on.

And that half the pitch bollocks is why quite a few bad decisions can get made. No official near enough to call it.

OI it wouldn’t need 4 ARs. Rugby manages to do it fine without 4. What it would take is a change to the archaic thing of ARs having a half the pitch each. They can just run their side of the pitch and the unused AR can mark offside. It’s not difficult - like I say other sports manage to do it.

Pete sadly it’s not uncommon for them not to get booked and the player who kicks it told to not try it on. It should be a booking as soon as the player walks up to the ball.

Gold is nice, but more comms gobbledygook? "a range of factors including matchday activations"

We got the Silver award for the previous year.

The EFL have awarded AFCW the Family Excellence Gold award for 2026.

The EFL show our club management in a good light. Hull fans have already bought tickets, booked trains etc and they are the ones most clearly entitled to be there. The team's preparations are messed up if they don't know who they will face. I just hope it doesn't end up costing us too much, given money that could have gone to all 72 clubs will now go to lawyers and paying settlements.

“ The complaint also details concerns surrounding Mr Rowley’s attendance at the club’s end-of-season staff event, accompanied by Yeovil Town FC’s Head of Recruitment, where interactions with contracted Walton & Hersham FC players took place despite clear indications that their presence was not welcomed by club ownership.”

EFL statement suggesting potential disruption to the Championship playoff final schedule.

Spart - agreed. VAR should not have got involved, but having got involved, they should have taken LONGER to look at it, because, as you point out, the attacker has forced the defender's arm upwards.

What Hash said.

This topic comes up every now and then. WFC and AFCW are obviously different legal entities however we are both the same 'community'. AFCW is the spiritual continuation of WFC. WFC was Wimbledon's football club and so are AFCW. In that sense we are the same club. But of course yes, as legal entities we are entirely separate.

Regarding the "handball" last night, it appears that the defenders' arm is pushed up into an "unnatural" position by the Celtic player beneath him. That should've been taken into account.

Players and managers will always find a way to get around any new rules, just like they did with keepers being told they can take the kick from either side of the 6 yard box when they take the kick from the opposite side from where they collected the ball just to time waste from a rule that was supposed to speed the game up. They need to re-word the rule to state that the kick is taken from the nearest side of the 6 yard box from where the keeper has collected the ball, regardless of which side of the goal that the ball originally went out of play.

Spit - Sanchez is a legend of "Wimbledon" and WFC and not an AFCW legend. Wimbledon fc won the FA cup for Wimbledon, AFCW did not. I certainly don't claim that Sanchez played for AFCW or that AFCW won the FA cup, but "Wimbledon" did win the cup for Wimbledon.

Players who stand right in front of the ball to stop a free kick being taken quickly must be the thickest. All the guy taking the kick has to do is blast it into his body and apart from a possible postponement of his love life he also gets booked. Don't know which is the most stupid though, the bloke blocking the kick or the kicker for not thinking of this simple remedy. Is it still 10yds? I stopped trying to keep up with change when we moved from b&w to b&y.