The latest publication of Football League clubs' spending on agents' fees has revealed that the amount of money committed to agents has increased by £3.9 million in the last twelve months.
League clubs committed £12.7m to agents between July 2009 and June 2010 compared to £8.8m for the same period in 2008-09.
In announcing the latest agents' fees figures Football League Chairman Greg Clarke voiced concern, saying:
"Given the current economic climate, it is worrying to the see such a significant amount leaking from the game.
"This year's figures demonstrate a considerable increase on those of last season and it is essential that clubs work to reduce this liability over the coming campaign."
During the 2009-10 season clubs committed to pay agents in 396 (16.6%) of the 2,392 player transactions that took place, collectively committing the sum of £12,739,867.
Championship clubs accounted for £10.1m (79.5%) of this total, with League 1 and League 2 clubs accounting for £2.2m (17.6%) and £0.4m (2.9%) respectively.
Fourteen clubs did not commit any money to agents during the 12 months covered by this report. They were Accrington Stanley, AFC Bournemouth, Barnet, Chesterfield, Crewe Alexandra, Dagenham & Redbridge, Darlington, Exeter City, Hereford United, Lincoln City, Macclesfield Town, Port Vale, Stockport County and Tranmere Rovers. A further nine clubs paid less than £10,000.
Cheltenham Town is among those Football League clubs for whom agents payments are a relative rarity. The club committed the sum of £4,000 to agents fees during the 12 month period of the Football League report. The sum was in relation to player acquisitions last summer. The club has not paid any agents fees during this summer's squad re-building.
See below for a question and answer session with Cheltenham Town club secretary Paul Godfrey regarding agents.
OVERALL 2009/10 FIGURES (2008/09 figures in brackets)
- Between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010 Football League clubs engaged in 2,392 (3,727) player transactions (new registrations/player transfers, contract updates, contract cancellations and loans);
- Clubs committed to pay an agent in 396 (229) of these transactions;
- Therefore, no agent was used in 1,996 transactions;
- League clubs committed to spend £12,739,867 (£8,809,501) on agents' fees during the period of this report;
- 14 clubs (19) did not commit any money to agents during the 12 months covered by this report; They were Accrington Stanley, AFC Bournemouth, Barnet, Chesterfield, Crewe Alexandra, Dagenham & Redbridge, Darlington, Exeter City, Hereford United, Lincoln City, Macclesfield Town, Port Vale, Stockport County and Tranmere Rovers.
- 23 clubs (29) including Cheltenham Town committed to pay less than £10,000 to agents in the same period.
THE CHAMPIONSHIP
- In The Championship there were 778 (1,227) player transactions, 205 (142) involved the use of agents;
- Clubs committed to spend a total of £10,131,314 (£7,541,379) on agents' fees during this period;
- All 24 clubs (24) committed to paying for the services of a licensed agent;
LEAGUE 1
- In League 1 there were 955 (1,259) player transactions, 155 (62) involved the use of an agent;
- Clubs committed to spend a total of £2,241,771 (£1,078,955) on agents' fees during this period;
- 21 clubs (18) committed to paying for the services of a licensed agent;
- 3 clubs (6) did not pay for the services of a licensed agent (Exeter City, Stockport County and Tranmere Rovers).
LEAGUE 2
- In League 2 there were 659 (1,241) player transactions, 36 (45) involved the use of an agent;
- Clubs committed to spend a total of £366,781 (£189,167) on agents' fees during this period;
- 13 clubs (11) committed to paying for the services of a licensed agent;
- 11 clubs (13) did not pay for the services of a licensed agent (Accrington Stanley, AFC Bournemouth, Barnet, Chesterfield, Crewe Alexandra, Dagenham & Redbridge, Darlington, Hereford United, Lincoln City, Macclesfield Town and Port Vale).
FOOTBALL AGENTS Q AND A
Q What do football agents do?
A One way to think of it is to compare them to an estate agent. If you want to buy or sell a house you use a person with specific knowledge and experience to market the property, negotiate on your behalf and handle the administrative side. Football agents perform a similar function in working to make transfer and contract deals happen. In terms of what they get paid for, it's about buying in professional services. If, for example, a fuse goes in my house I'll replace the wire myself but if it's a more complex problem I'll need to pay an electrician. Agents can be employed by players or clubs and it's usually in one of the following ways:
1) In many cases a player will engage an agent to find him a new club on more lucrative terms and the agent will charge a percentage commission on making a deal happen. The agent effectively 'markets' the player to other clubs and uses his contacts to arrange for the him to be made available to managers looking for a specific type of player, such as a striker or left-back.
2) On other occasions a club will say to an agent: "I want x player from y club in Spain". Can you see if a transfer can happen? The agent then communicates with the relevant people, and this may be complex and time consuming when dealing with different languages and regulations in different countries, then comes back with a proposal for a transfer. The agent is then paid for his time and work on putting the package together.
3) A club may have a star player but might be short of money and may need to sell. An agent may therefore be employed to obtain the best possible transfer deal and receive a percentage as a result.
Q Why do they get paid so much?
A As a general rule, agents payments are far more prevalent in the higher divisions and two of the key commodities offered by agents are time and specialist knowledge. Top level player transfers in the modern game can be very time consuming and complicated negotiations that individual clubs or players may not be able to handle on their own. They therefore buy in the services of agents to handle this work for them.
In terms of the sums of money involved, it's all about supply and demand. The higher up the football pyramid you go, the fewer players there are capable of operating at that level so they demand a higher premium and agents are able to negotiate hard for their clients. If an agent has a contract to a receive a fixed percentage from a player's transfer then the more valuable the transfer, the more the agent will receive.
Q Why have agents got such a bad name?
A Like any industry there are good ones and bad ones just as, for example, there are good car dealers and bad car dealers. The football agents we've dealt with have always been perfectly straight and reputable businessmen. Admittedly, however, there have been some high profile cases in the past where agents have got a bad name. The high profile nature of football and the perception that money paid to agents is going 'out of the game' haven't helped their image. Personally, I believe it's a precarious profession that I wouldn't want to do! Agents can spend months working towards a transfer deal that might never happen and in the meantime they might not earn anything.
Q Have Cheltenham Town's players got agents?
A At League Two level many players will have agents but they will not necessarily require payment from clubs. In the lower divisions agents tend to represent younger players who have the potential to move on to higher things and it is then that the agents will get involved in the bigger deals. Many of the older League Two players tend to represent themselves in negotiations or use the players union, the PFA.
Q Why do clubs pay so much to agents?
A Quite simply these days it's part and parcel of the game. A CEO from a championship club once told me that if he didn't pay agents his club would be shut out from signing 80 to 90% of the players they wanted. Since the advent of Bosman/freedom of contract etc the whole business of signing players has become more complex. Years ago a player would appear on a club's transfer list, another club would pay the fee and that would be it. Nowadays the balance of power has switched to the players so they employ agents to get them the best deals they can. Clubs will still pay an amount of money to sign a player but rather than a published 'transfer fee', the amount will now be divided into payments to the other club, to the player and to agents. It's possible to have a transfer in which three different agents are paid - those acting for the buying club, the selling club and the player.
Q Why are the Football League so concerned about agents payments?
A The finances in football are not in a healthy state generally. In League Two there is a salary cap which has helped to control spending but in other divisions there have been highly publicised problems of clubs getting into difficulty. The League is concerned about over-spending and agents payments are one aspect of this.
Q Have the new agents regulations helped the game?
A Yes, I think the greater transparency has helped people to understand how the system works and the requirement for agents to be licensed and to have a written contract with players and clubs has protected both the clubs and the reputable agents. It has also allowed the authorities to monitor transactions more closely. There will always be those who try to circumnavigate the rules but I believe it's more difficult to do now.
