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Tonda Eckert

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Tonda Eckert
Eckert with Southampton in 2025
Personal information
Date of birth (1993-01-31) 31 January 1993 (age 33)
Place of birth Neukölln, Berlin, Germany
Position Central midfielder[1]
Team information
Current team
 Southampton (head coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Viktoria Arnoldsweiler [de]
Managerial career
2025– Southampton
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Tonda Eckert (born 31 January 1993) is a German professional football coach who is the head coach of EFL Championship club Southampton.

Coaching career

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Early life and career

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Eckert was born on 31 January 1993 in the Neukölln borough of Berlin, Germany.[1][2] His father is a retired computer scientist who worked in areas such as blockchain technology and video surveillance.[2]

Eckert aspired to a career in sports, having studied at the Sporthochschule Köln in Cologne. He played football at an amateur level, making several appearances for Viktoria Arnoldsweiler [de] in the Mittelrheinliga (fifth tier) in the spring of 2016. By that time he had already worked for Germany's national team as an analyst at UEFA Euro 2012 and the 2014 FIFA World Cup, also studying the culture of the adversary nation and what it might mean for the DNA of their team.[3]

As a coach, Eckert was assistant coach of the under-17 team at 1. FC Köln from 2013 to 2016, before becoming assistant coach to Marco Rose of Red Bull Salzburg's under-18 team in the 2016–17 season, when the team won the 2016–17 UEFA Youth League. Within the Red Bull group, he moved to RB Leipzig in 2017, where he spent two years as assistant coach of the under-19 team, initially under Robert Klauß and then under Alexander Blessin. In the 2019–20 season, he was assistant coach to Miroslav Klose with FC Bayern Munich's under-17 team.[2]

Moving from his native Germany to England,[4] Eckert was appointed assistant manager to Gerhard Struber (whom he already knew from Salzburg) at Barnsley in August 2020,[5] remaining in post until January 2022.[6] During the same month, he joined Genoa as assistant to Alexander Blessin, staying in Italy for three years and a half, using his time there to get his UEFA Pro Licence.[2]

Southampton

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In July 2025, Eckert was appointed under-21s head coach at Southampton.[7][8] Following the dismissal of Will Still on 2 November, Eckert was appointed interim head coach of the senior team.[9][10] His first match as head coach was a 2–1 victory away to Queens Park Rangers on 5 November.[11] This was followed by further victories: 3–1 at home to Sheffield Wednesday on 8 November[12] and 5–1 away to Charlton Athletic on 22 November.[13] On 5 December, Eckert was appointed as manager on a permanent basis.[14] On 13 March 2026, Eckert was awarded the EFL Championship Manager of the Month for February after Southampton picked up 13 points from a possible 15.[15] Continued good form in March saw him win the award for a second consecutive month, picking up 10 out of 12 possible points.[16] Following 14 points from six matches in April, Eckert won the EFL Championship Manager of the Month for a third time in a row.[17]

Espionage incident

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In May 2026, Southampton were accused of improperly recording training sessions of Middlesbrough prior to their EFL Championship play-offs semi-final contest.[18] Southampton initially claimed that the surveillance was implemented without order from club leadership or members of the coaching staff, though they later admitted to spying on Middlesbrough along with two other teams in the EFL Championship. According to The Daily Telegraph, Eckert allegedly took responsibility for the decision to spy on other teams and claimed that he was unaware it was against the FA's rules on scouting opponents.[19] Southampton were expelled from the EFL Championship play-offs and deducted four points for the 2026–27 season as punishment for the rule breaches.[20] It was subsequently reported that the FA was considering charging Eckert with misconduct over the spying scandal.[21]

On 21 May, the Independent Disciplinary Commission's written reasons were published and revealed Eckert had authorised a "contrived and determined plan" to spy on opponents in a "deplorable approach".[22][23] On 2 June, Southampton owner Dragan Šolak said he would not dismiss Eckert.[24] The same day, Eckert publicly apologised to the players, staff and supporters.[25]

On 22 July, the FA charged Eckert with three breaches of FA rule E3.1 in relation to misconduct between December 2025 and May 2026.[26]

Managerial statistics

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As of match played 19 September 2026[27]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
PWDLWin %
Southampton 2 November 2025 Present 5030119060.0
Total 5030119060.0

Honours

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Individual

References

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  1. 1 2 "Tonda Eckert: Profile". worldfootball.net. Heimspiel Medien. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Shepard, Kit; Eckner, Constantin (23 May 2026). "For Southampton spymaster Tonda Eckert, surveillance runs in the family". The Times. Retrieved 23 May 2026.
  3. ↑ "'I sat in his seat': Southampton's Tonda Eckert on sauna beers with Klose and his unlikely career path". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 April 2026.
  4. ↑ "Southampton parts ways with coach Still – will a young German take over?". sportsoftheday. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  5. ↑ "Tonda Eckert interview". Barnsley FC. 18 August 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  6. ↑ "Who is Southampton interim boss Tonda Eckert and what can we expect?". Southern Daily Echo. 3 November 2025. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  7. ↑ "Tonda Eckert appointed Under-21s Head Coach". Southampton FC. 11 July 2025. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  8. ↑ "Tonda Eckert: Under-21s Head Coach". Southampton FC. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  9. ↑ "Southampton sack Still after five months in charge". BBC Sport. 2 November 2025. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  10. ↑ "Club statement: Will Still". Southampton FC. 2 November 2025. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  11. ↑ Lepkowski, Chris (5 November 2025). "Queens Park Rangers 1–2 Southampton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  12. ↑ "Southampton 3–1 Sheffield Wednesday". BBC Sport. 8 November 2025. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
  13. ↑ "Charlton Athletic 1–5 Southampton". BBC Sport. 22 November 2025. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
  14. ↑ "Eckert confirmed as new Men's First Team Head Coach". Southampton FC. 5 December 2025. Retrieved 5 December 2025.
  15. 1 2 "Saints boss Eckert wins top February manager award". BBC Sport. 13 March 2026. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
  16. 1 2 "Sky Bet Championship Manager and Player of the Month March winners". EFL. 10 April 2026. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  17. 1 2 House, Alfie (8 May 2026). "Eckert named Championship Manager of the Month for third time in a row". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  18. ↑ Walker, Michael; Sheldon, Dan (19 May 2026). "Southampton expelled from Championship play-offs over 'Spygate', Middlesbrough reinstated". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
  19. ↑ "The 'spygate' scandal that rocked English football". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
  20. ↑ "EFL Statement: Southampton Football Club". EFL. 19 May 2026. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
  21. ↑ "FA considers charging Southampton manager Tonda Eckert over spying scandal". The Independent. 19 May 2026.
  22. ↑ Rees-Julian, George (21 May 2026). "Southampton's Eckert authorised spying; intern felt under pressure". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 21 May 2026.
  23. ↑ Johnson, Dale (21 May 2026). "Southampton's Eckert authorised spying missions". BBC News. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  24. ↑ Roan, Dan (2 June 2026). "Southampton owner will not sack head coach Eckert". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  25. ↑ House, Alfie (2 June 2026). "Eckert apologises to Southampton over spying in full first message". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  26. ↑ "Southampton boss Eckert charged by FA over Spygate". BBC News. 22 July 2026. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  27. ↑ "Managers: Tonda Eckert". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
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