What Taylor Harwood-Bellis allegedly said to Luke Ayling after Southampton defender accused of ‘discrimination’

Southampton defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis has been accused of making "discriminatory" comments towards Middlesbrough's Luke Ayling.

On Tuesday night, Southampton secured their place in the Championship play-off final thanks to an extra-time winner from Shea Charles, but an incident involving Harwood-Bellis and Ayling has overshadowed the result.

With 38 minutes on the clock at St Mary's, Ayling received a yellow card for a foul on Leo Scienza.

Moments later, the defender could be seen in a verbal altercation with Harwood-Bellis, which led referee Andy Madley to stop play and speak to both Tonda Eckert and Kim Hellberg on the touchline.

Sky Sports reporter Jonathan Oakes gave an insight into the altercation at half-time.

"There were words exchanged between Luke Ayling and Taylor Harwood-Bellis," Oakes said. "Ayling says the words that Harwood-Bellis used towards him were of a discriminatory nature, and other players around heard the comment as well.

"It prompted the referee Andy Madley to speak to both managers. Madley says he will be reporting the incident."

Harwood-Bellis and Ayling were involved in a heated clash. Image credit: Getty

It has since been confirmed that the FA will review Madley's report before deciding whether to pursue action against Harwood-Bellis for discriminatory language.

On Wednesday, a report from The Athletic claimed that Harwood-Bellis made reference to Ayling’s stammer during the incident, with the remark being heard by several of Ayling’s Middlesbrough teammates.

As mentioned by Southampton manager Tonda Eckert, Ayling and Harwood-Bellis were seen having a conversation after the full-time whistle.

"I don't have an understanding of the situation yet," Eckert said. "But I have seen that the two of them spoke straight after the game and there was obviously a lot of emotions, but they seemed fine."

Luke Ayling has previously opened up about having a stammer

Back in 2022, Ayling opened up about his stammer in an interview with the BBC, where he spoke candidly about the consequences it has on his everyday life.

The former Leeds United defender said he asks his partner to order at the drive-thru because of "insecurities" and the reaction from his previous interviews online.

“When I first came to Leeds, I wasn’t comfortable at all doing interviews,” Ayling said.

“And I’ve kind of got to a point now where I just don’t care. If I do an interview and I have a stutter, I see a lot of things online when people say that I say ‘then’ and ‘like’ a lot but that’s my safety blanket kind of thing.

“Because I know that I can get those words out. I see a lot of people who maybe don’t know that I’ve got a stutter say ‘all I hear is then and like’.

"I just got to a point where I just thought, do you know what, I’m doing an interview with somebody who wants to speak to me and who actually wants to hear what I’ve got to say so why am I scared to do it? Because I shied away for so long from doing it.

“But I will still go to a drive-thru and I’ll be sat in the driver’s seat and I’ll still make my missus order it because I don’t want to do it. So, I still have those insecurities."

“It’s horrible because I sit here and I’ve got loads of things that I want to say but I know I can’t get them out so I just ramble on," added Ayling. "That’s probably why I’m quite loud in the dressing room and just don’t care because I just say what I feel.”