For the past two decades football clubs around the world have bemoaned the role that agents play in the game, and the amounts they take that could be spent on player development, the latest figures out of the UK are simply staggering.
Football League clubs paid out GBP21.7 million in agents fees last season, up by more that GBP5million on the previous season!
West Ham United were apparently the biggest spenders paying out GBP4.3million to players representatives. The Clubs in the Championship accounted for GBP18.7million being paid to players agents.
Only five clubs avoided paying anything and they should maybe sit down with their rival clubs and discuss how they managed this as the fees are way out of hand and one wonders why players cannot simply sit down with their clubs and talk openly and honestly. The five clubs to have avoided such costs were: Accrington Stanley, AFC Wimbledon, Barnet, Crewe Alexandra and Hartlepool United.
Rather than visiting the likes of Barcelona maybe the A League clubs CEO’s should also pay a visit to these clubs and it may go a long way to them eventually turning a profit.
