Hayden Hackney was seen crying after Middlesbrough’s Championship playoff semi-final loss to Southampton in extra time. A few days earlier, Southampton sent an intern analyst to film Hellberg’s pre-match training session to assess Hackney’s availability. The intern, William Salt, was reportedly concealed near a spot between a tree and a bush, but a freelance photographer on assignment captured the attempt. Middlesbrough submitted a formal complaint to the EFL, and the spygate incident gained national attention. On Thursday, Kim Hellberg said Hackney was ready for Wembley, though his exact readiness remained uncertain. Hackney is expected to make his first appearance since a calf injury in March during Saturday’s final against Hull.
"When the television cameras zoomed in for a closeup it became clear Hayden Hackney was crying. Middlesbrough's best player had just watched his teammates lose the second leg of the Championship playoff semi-final 2-1 in extra time at Southampton. As he left his seat behind the away dugout and wandered across the pitch, the Redcar-born midfield playmaker looked utterly heartbroken."
"Little did Hackney know that the images captured by another camera lens a few days earlier would ultimately ensure that late on Friday afternoon he and the rest of Kim Hellberg's squad were pictured enjoying a guided tour of Wembley before Saturday's final against Hull. On Saturday the Championship's player of the season is expected to make his first appearance since sustaining a calf injury in March."
"Tonda Eckert, Southampton's manager, was so worried about Boro's midfield mastermind making a comeback in the first leg of the semi-final at the Riverside that he dispatched an intern analyst to film one of Hellberg's pre-match training sessions on his phone. The mission's main aim was to assess Hackney's availability."
"Unfortunately for the intern William Salt, a freelance photographer on assignment with Boro happened to train his lens on the precise spot between a tree and a bush where Salt later revealed to have been placed under immense pressure to breach English Football League regulations. Shortly afterwards Middlesbrough submitted a formal complaint to the EFL and spygate began gaining rapid traction in the national news agenda."
Read at www.theguardian.com
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