Football Agents: Love'em or hate 'em, they're here to stay

Football Food For Thought / Paul Moon / 12 September 2010 / 1

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Monster deal. Eric Hall was one of the very first football agents to become a household name

"It is amazing to find that the official list of FA Licensed Agents runs into hundreds. Most of them are independents, as opposed to working for large agencies. A footballer may retain only the service of an authorised agent so we investigated how simple or hard it was to become an agent. Surprisingly it was so simple it was almost disturbing."

Accused of all sorts of things, from shoddy deals to taking too much money out of the game, the football agent is an important part of modern-day football. Just what is a football agent and who does he go about his business, wonders Paul Moon.

We work, associate and mingle with all types of agents and representatives every day and readily accept their roles in life. But when the phrase 'football agent' is used we balk for a second before a sneer appears. Why is that? Is the bad press and jealousy regarding football agents fully deserved? A football agent is a person who procures and negotiates employment and endorsement deals for a player. In return, the agent receives a commission that is usually between four and ten percent of the contract, although this figure varies, is one definition out there about what a football agent supposedly is and supposedly does.

The agent will tell you that he is dedicated to providing services, which relieve clients of the non-playing activities, associated with their primary tasks. They will say they are not driven purely by the potential financial rewards but have an innate love for the game of football. They remind us that they are not in the business to exploit clubs/sponsors or to kill the game we all love so much as to facilitate matters.

Those sympathetic with agents say that the value of their importance helps make the sport the billion pound industry it is across the world today and that they keep the system working effectively. Furthermore, they claim they are a common logic and a fairness buffer between club and player. Some remind us that in the past football clubs have displayed a callous disregard for the treatment of players so the activities of the agent are payback time. Finally we are reminded that clubs hire agents too.

Many people in and outside of football disagree with those sentiments and find their behaviour parasitical. Feeding on (or off, if you like) the host they destroy ethics, hinder loyalty and are a barrier to common sense! They are part of the reason for spiralling transfer fees. They do not believe in transparency, preferring to mask deals under cloaks, in the process ensuring they get a nice little cut of whatever deals they broker. They perpetuate and exacerbate problems within football and have little regard to the football supporter whose money contributes to the riches in the modern game.

There is some truth in the fact they arguably take more out of the game than they give but despite all this, they are necessary. Footballers have a short career span and it is fair they earn within that time frame. If this player came from your team you would rather he was focussed on his game of football than on peripheral distractions so on that basis alone he needs an agent.

It is amazing to find that the official list of FA Licensed Agents runs into hundreds. Most of them are independents, as opposed to working for large agencies. A footballer may retain only the service of an authorised agent so we investigated how simple or hard it was to become an agent. Surprisingly it was so simple it was almost disturbing. As long as you do not have a criminal record, go to the Football Association website, click 'rules and regulations' section and go to 'players' agents'. Fill in a simple application form, which covers just two sides of a piece of A4 paper and bingo!

It is hard to criticise the agent for exaggerating the value of his player (consequently inflating a transfer market) - that is his job. No one begrudges an agent a commission for work completed but it is not right that huge transfer fees do not give a breakdown of where the money is going! Every action should be showcased to the customer, they merit primary consideration.

Of course the truth is that there are good agents and bad agents and they are very much a case of 'can't live with em - can't live without em.' Monitoring or supervising them as they step in and outside of the law is impossible. One imagines they are here for the foreseeable future so best get used to it...

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Harry McMillan | 15 September 2010

Agents are fine for the Beckham's and Rooney's of this world who have outside interests and advertising but for the many thousands of players who only have football as their main interest they should not apply .There are good and greedy agents and i still remember the time when Anelka was a raw 19 year old who came to Arsenal and things were not going his way and his agent managed to get him a transfer and he made nearly 2 million from it ,this type of thing makes me sick as it was all money orientated and football was the last thing on his mind.
They still call him Le Sulk and he has been transferred more times than I have had hot dinners ( slight exageration there but you know what I mean ) and has made millions from this which is not good for the game in my view.
By the way i have some invested interest in anelka and chelsea this season as i have backed them on betfair and taken 2.00 .