Southampton's Home Revival Under Tonda Eckert
Southampton boss Tonda Eckert says the bond between his team and the St Mary’s crowd sits at the heart of the club’s remarkable home revival in 2026.
The 33-year-old German stepped up from Saints’ U21s in November 2025 after Will Still was sacked, inheriting a side marooned in 21st place and a fanbase running on frustration and fatigue. Since then, St Mary’s has turned into one of the most hostile arenas in the Championship – for visiting teams, at least.
Saints have taken 47 points at home under Eckert, the best record in the division over that spell, and have opened the new campaign with three straight home wins.
“You know the condition the club was in when I came in and you know the condition our supporters were in the moment I came in,” Eckert told BBC Radio Solent, drawing a clear line between where Southampton were and where they stand now.
“It’s not easy to play home games if you don’t have that connection. And rightly so, there was not that connection at that very moment for a variety of things going on.
“Then you need to earn that right to connect again to the supporters, to the city, because it means so much more, the football, to the city of Southampton.”
A year ago, the mood was poisonous. Southampton had just crashed out of the Championship play-offs under Eckert’s watch, not because of a bad performance, but because the club was thrown out in the wake of the Spygate scandal. The sense of injustice collided with long-standing anger and embarrassment. It could easily have broken the relationship for good.
Instead, the crowds kept coming. Attendances have held around the 30,000 mark heading into this season, keeping Saints among the top 20 supported clubs in the country. The loyalty stayed. Eckert knew he had to meet it halfway.
“It’s not one thing that you change. There are so many small steps that you need to take to earn the trust and build on a connection and build a relationship back up,” he said.
“St Mary’s just feels completely different than it did a year ago and that is just many, many things coming together.
“However, I do believe that to ‘win’ a season, you must play a successful season at home.”
The numbers back him up. With St Mary’s now crackling again – flags up, noise constant, patience restored – Southampton have turned home fixtures from a source of anxiety into a weekly opportunity. Opponents know what awaits them. So do the players.
Eckert’s work, though, is far from finished.
On the team front, he confirmed that Saturday’s clash with Bristol City will come “too early” for midfielder Caspar Jander. The 23-year-old has yet to feature this season after suffering a quad injury early in their first pre-season outing against National League side Eastleigh.
“We’re going to push, so hopefully it’s going to be some minutes against Wrexham (on 19 September). We had to delay a little bit, but I think he’s on a good way now,” Eckert said.
The connection in the stands has been rebuilt. The home form is roaring. If Jander and the rest of Eckert’s squad can stay fit and feed off that energy, St Mary’s might yet decide the entire shape of Southampton’s season.
