Ben Chorley said he will leave Southampton and Sport Republic at the end of June, becoming the first departure from the club since its Championship playoff spying scandal. Chorley, Southampton's head of UK scouting, said it was the right time to move on after a period that included promotions, relegations and hundreds of transfer transactions across the group's clubs.
Southampton were kicked out of the Championship playoffs earlier this month after being charged with spying on multiple clubs through the season, including Middlesbrough before their semi-final first leg. Middlesbrough advanced to the final but lost to Hull City, and both clubs will be back in the Championship next season.
Chorley made his announcement on LinkedIn and said working within a multi-club model as sporting director in Europe and leading the UK side at Southampton had been a privilege. He added that the experience across the clubs had been invaluable, a remark that underlined how central he has been to the setup.
The timing leaves one question hanging over his exit: whether it is tied to the Spygate scandal or whether he had already decided to move on. Southampton had been in a strong position to win promotion to the Premier League before the punishment, and Chorley's departure is the first visible change from inside the club since the case against Middlesbrough broke into view.
For now, there is no public answer to that question. What is clear is that Southampton are heading into next season still in the Championship, without one of the figures who helped shape their scouting operation as the fallout from earlier this month's case continues to settle.
