Southampton have discovered that being punished for spying on other football clubs does not necessarily mean everyone will immediately stop mentioning it.

The Saints began their Championship season with a 2-1 defeat at Watford on Sunday, their first league fixture since the spying scandal which resulted in them being expelled from last season’s play-offs and handed a four-point deduction for the new campaign.

Watford’s mascot decided the occasion required some additional preparation.

Harry the Hornet approached the Southampton away end at Vicarage Road and held his hands to his eyes as imaginary binoculars, pretending to observe the visiting supporters from a distance. He later continued the performance in front of them with a dance as Southampton fans responded from behind the goal.

The reference was not particularly difficult to identify.

Southampton admitted spying on Oxford United, Ipswich Town and Middlesbrough during the 2025/26 season. An independent commission found that head coach Tonda Eckert had authorised the practice, which included staff observing rival training sessions and footage being passed back to Southampton.

Their punishment included expulsion from the Championship play-offs and the four-point deduction with which they have started this season.

Watford then ensured the subject survived for at least one more afternoon.

Iker Bravo and Amin Nabizada gave the hosts a two-goal lead before Cyle Larin pulled one back for Southampton, leaving Alessio Dionisi with a 2-1 victory in his first league match as Watford manager.

Southampton will have considerably more important things to deal with over the course of the season than opposition mascots.

For their first away game, though, even the hornet had done his opposition research.

The spying has stopped.

The references to it have not.