There’s scouting your opponents, and then there’s deploying spy tactics that even MI6 would be proud of. Helicopters, drones and scouts hiding in bushes: football is a sport in which any tactic will be used that can gain a team an edge over another. The Olympic Games are a big deal, of course, so you can hardly blame the Canadian women’s national team for looking to assert an advantage on their opponents in their quest for the gold medals.
But they were caught out when players and staff of the New Zealand team, who the Canadians were taking on first up in the tournament, spotted the drone that had been sent to spy on them on the training field. A member of staff from the Canadian team was arrested by French police, and in the end two members of their analysis department were sent home in disgrace. Head coach, Bev Priestman, also voluntarily stepped aside.
Not only is flying an unmanned aircraft over a prohibited area a criminal offence, it also crosses the line of sporting integrity – a sleazy way to gain an advantage on an opponent. But the stakes are so high in the beautiful game that you can understand why some teams resort to such nefarious methods.
The Canadian women’s team are the reigning Olympic champions – there’s pressure on them to retain their title, while in club football the financial importance of winning titles, promotion or avoiding relegation is such that any way to seek a marginal gain is explored. That perhaps explains why plenty of others have been caught spying in football.
The Spy Master
The name’s Bielsa, Marcelo Bielsa. Those involved with the Canada team were mortified when it was confirmed that they had spied on their opponents – most were oblivious to the plot devised by the two members of staff later sent home. But former Leeds United and Argentina head coach, Marcelo Bielsa, was less than apologetic after Derby County uncovered his ruse to spy on them back in 2019.
The Championship promotion battle in that 2018/19 season was fraught, with Leeds and Derby key players in it. So, when the pair met in a game in January 2019, Bielsa was keen to leverage any advantage he could get. In the end, Derby staff called the police after spotting a man acting suspiciously at their training ground, with the individual apprehended. “I’d rather not coach than send people undercover on their hands and knees in the undergrowth,” then Derby boss, Frank Lampard, commented.
As for Bielsa, he was unmoved – admitting that he personally had tasked the spy with their Derby assignment, before confirming that he had spied on every single one of his side’s opponents during training in that 2018/19 campaign. Leeds were fined £200,000 for their lack of ‘good faith’ towards their opponents, while – ironically – it was Derby that would go on to beat the Yorkshiremen in the play-offs. It was the ultimate Hollywood ending to a remarkable tale of espionage and subterfuge.
The Opponent Observation Department
It perhaps won’t surprise you to learn that José Mourinho is also a fan of footballing espionage. The Special One sought an illicit advantage when he was in charge at both Porto and Chelsea, calling upon the services of a young André Villas-Boas – a man Mourinho would later euphemistically describe as his ‘eyes and ears’. Villas-Boas headed the ‘Opponent Observation Department’, which sounds like a grandiose term for scouting the opposition. But in a 2011 interview, the Portuguese would inadvertently let slip that his duties went far beyond that.
He confirmed that he would visit the training grounds of the opposition team, watching from a hiding place or by pretending to be a member of staff. He wouldn’t record video surreptitiously, but would get a first-hand look at the tactics and patterns of play being practiced by the opposition, as well as the morale of their players. Unsurprisingly, both Mourinho and Villas-Boas have been keen not to talk too much about their spying, but the latter very much let the cat out of the bag in that Telegraph interview.
Droning On
If you thought the Canadian women’s national team were ingenious in their deployment of drone technology to spy on an opponent, it’s worth noting that they were far from the first to use prying eyes in the sky. German Bundesliga outfit, Werder Bremen, are amongst the first to have used drones in their ‘scouting’, sending up the machines ahead of their 2018/19 clash with Hoffenheim.
The buzzing sound of the drone was enough to alert Hoffenheim staff, who in turn informed police about the unconventional aircraft hovering overhead. Bang to rights, Werder were forced to admit their scheme, with a spokesperson revealing:
Werder Bremen briefly brought a drone into action last Tuesday during TSG Hoffenheim’s training.
This is the result of a conversation between Werder CEO Baumann, head coach [Florian] Kohfeldt and employees of the analysis department.
‘Commendable’ Ingenuity
Curiously, then Hoffenheim head coach Julian Nagelsmann – who would go on to manage Bayern Munich and the German national team – didn’t mind Werder’s ploy; in fact, he applauded them for their ‘commendable’ ingenuity.
This December, Hoffenheim caught a Werder Bremen scout spying on their training with a drone. Werder apologised. Hoffe coach Nagelsmann: “I’m not really angry at the analyst doing his job. It’s commendable if they’re doing everything they can, trying to spy on the opposition.”
— Raphael Honigstein💙 (@honigstein) January 12, 2019
Not the First Spygate, Nor the Last…
Prior to the contemporary technological revolution, clubs had to use rather more basic tactics for spying on their opponents – such as, for example, forcing the kitman to crawl up into the loft space to listen in to their team talk.
Former Blackpool and Leicester City striker, Gary Taylor-Fletcher, took to Twitter to recount one such tale from his days at Lincoln City. Playing away at Huddersfield Town, the Imps’ then manager, Keith Alexander, was giving his players their instructions when a polystyrene tile fell from the ceiling. The Lincoln players and staff looked upwards to see Huddersfield’s kit man, Andy Brook, peering down at them!
Nothing new this spygate lark. I remember a certain game for Lincoln away against Huddersfield before I signed there. Big Keith was giving his halftime talk and one of the polystyrene tiles cracked and fell down. The sight of Brooky the Kitman trying to back up was hilarious. 😂
— Gary Taylor-Fletcher (@GTF_12) January 12, 2019