Most professional footballers have an agent these days. Some even represent themselves. But the common denominator is that they are always on the look-out for the best deal that they can obtain for their client. An agent receives around 10 per cent of a transfer fee involved when a player moves clubs. Yet the use of an agent only started to come to light from the 1990s onwards.
According to FIFA statistics, there are over 5000 agents in the world of football who are licensed by each national football association. Even people like me and you could become a football agent, if we really wanted to.
One of the most famous early trailblazers of football agents was an outspoken East Londoner called Eric Hall, who had the catchphrase “Monster, monster” attributed to him. Hall represented in his heyday over 40 footballers and managers alike, who were usually from the London and surrounding areas. However, compared to some of the super agents Hall tends to have been forgotten about. These days the super agents are those with the best players and managers on their books and include well-known names such Mino Raiola, Jorge Mendes and Pini Zahavi. Some former players have been become agents as opposed to going into management and coaching, players such as Barry Silkman, Kevin Davies, Robert Ullathorne and Ian Harte.
Harte of course has been very vocal these last few weeks. The former Leeds and Ireland defender, who also appeared eight times for SAFC represents Jack Clarke. Harte’s recent comments on Clarke have really rocked the boat and just added fuel to a potential fire that will probably see Clarke follow his advice and move on from the Lads in the summer. Saying that many will argue that SAFC are keen to cash in on Clarke, like they did Ross Stewart.
He said: “There was a clause in Jack’s contract that if he played a certain amount of games, which he had back earlier on in the season, then he was to be offered a new deal. There was an offer made but it wasn’t good enough. Every football club has its structures to work to but when you have a player like Jack sometimes wage structures have to be broken and I don’t think that is going to change unfortunately.”
Like any agent, Harte knows what he wants and will do what he can to make the player think it’s the right thing. It will make him money. Last season alone, Championship sides alone accounted for spending just over £36 million on agent fees which is more than a fifth placed club receives in prize money at Premier League. The last figures produced indicated the Lads spent a shade over £718K in agent fees for the period 1 February 2022 to 31 January 2023. You might think that’s a lot of money but it’s not when you compared the same period for divisional rivals Norwich City who astonishingly spent £4.38 million on them. Small beer Sunderland, eh?
Personally, I’m not fond of the football agent. Yes, they have a living to make and usually do rather well from it but in my eyes: they hold clubs to ransom and force players to move on because they want another decent pay day out of them. They are, as some fellow fans and football personalities say, like a cancer that’s killing the game and clubs are being used as pawns in their end game. Perhaps this is why the cost football has gone up in the modern day and the game itself is no longer the working man’s game with its division of haves and have nots. Until the agent is reduced to a bit part then the game may continue to suffer, players may one day smell the coffee and go back to the old way and handle their negotiations themselves, just like former Wales striker Iwan Roberts did so in 2000 after splitting with his then agent David Speedie: the former Chelsea and Scotland striker.
The legendary Brian Clough probably had down to a tee though: “The only agent back then was James Bond and he only shafted women - not entire football clubs.” - pretty apt and typically outspoken don’t you think? What’s your opinion on them?
