Spygate is one of the most-stunning, one-of-a-kind incidents in football. It had English football supporters gripped back in 2019, with Marcelo Bielsa endearing himself further to Leeds United fans.
Bielsa had already won Leeds fans over by the midway point of the 2018-19 Championship season, with his effervescent style of football already taking Leeds towards the the play-offs at the end of the season.
It was Bielsa’s first season in English football, in a campaign that also included Bielsa forcing his Leeds players to stand aside and allow Aston Villa to score – a decision that won Leeds the FIFA Fairplay Award.
Earlier in the season, Bielsa sent one of his coaching staff to spy on Derby’s training ahead of Leeds’ 2-0 win over Frank Lampard’s Derby. The man in question was caught with bolt cutters and binoculars.
Patrick Bamford recalls call involving Lampard and Bielsa
Leeds received a big fine for Spygate, but it also saw Bielsa produce one of the most-incredible press conferences in football to date. A powerpoint presentation that saw Bielsa explain how much he knows.
And in turn, why he didn’t even need to spy on Derby. In front of the cameras after his side lost 2-0 in January 2019, Lampard described Bielsa as “unethical”. Now, Bamford recalls a call between the duo.
“Us players were like , ‘What? Has that just been made up’. We actually had to ask. Jay [Mooney] who was head of media at the time, he had to ring Lampard,” Bamford told his My Mate’s A Footballer podcast.
“He had to try to apologise and try and get Marcelo to apologise to him. I don’t know the ins and the outs of the conversation but I don’t think Frank took it too well. I know at the time, he wasn’t happy.”
What Frank Lampard said about spygate earlier this year
Hilariously, then-Derby manager and currently unemployed Lampard spoke about Spygate earlier this year and claimed he “wasn’t that bothered” about the whole incident despite his public outburst.
Now, with Bamford’s comments, it is clear that he wasn’t best-pleased behind the scenes either about Bielsa’s actions. Something that Bielsa suggested was normal in South America, but isn’t in England.
Lampard has since embarked on a managerial career that has included a return to Chelsea, a move to Everton, back to Chelsea for 11 games and out of work for more than a year at this current moment.
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