Southampton Football Club's ban on photographers covering home games has run into trouble after Digital South, the agency it was intending to use to create a monopoly on photojournalism, pulled out of the deal.

Last week it emerged that the League One side had chosen to deny photographers press accreditation for the new season, and said that all newspapers and agencies would have to negotiate for images of home games from one outlet, The Digital South.

However, the Digital South owner, Robin Jones, contacted MediaGuardian.co.uk over the weekend and said that he had declined the offer by Southampton as he did not agree with the ban.

"I disagreed with their stance on a total ban of photographers from any media source," said Jones in a statement. "I voiced this opinion to the club and genuinely thought that the ban would not take place. It became clear to me on Thursday that this ban was indeed happening and so I rang the club to inform them of my decision to decline their offer.

"Basically, a ban on photographers is simply a bad idea We felt that we were between a rock and a hard place, because we are sure that another agency or photographer might come forward to do this work for Southampton," he added. "But it is not something we are prepared to do."

The move has prompted outrage among media owners, with the Sun today running a match report headlined "Opposition 0, Plymouth 1" that is highly critical of Southampton's policy.

"Today we are printing the most one-sided match report in the history of the Sun," reporter Graham Nickless wrote.

The Sun report went on to criticise Southampton chairman Nicola Cortese's move to ban photographers as a "crazed decision ... that will hurt his club more than he thinks".

"After so many dismal years of decline Southampton need all the publicity they can get while they fight their back up the divisions. This senseless move will not make him extra money but it will turn the fans, and, more importantly, sponsors away from the club," the report added.

Last week the Southampton FC spokesman, Jordan Sibley, sent emails to media organisations attempting to gain accreditation stating that it had appointed Digital South to syndicate all home images. "As such, no access will be granted to external photographers," Sibley said. "Newspapers can discuss obtaining photographs with Robin Jones of The Digital South."

Telegraph Media Group said it would not use any photos provided under such a deal, according to Press Gazette, while the Sports Journalists' Association has also recommended that no sport or picture editors use Southampton photos.

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