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The Football League is attempting a crackdown on the amount of money that flows out of the game into the pockets of the agents, but even if their efforts succeed, there is no sign that the Premiership intends to follow their lead. Football League chairmen decided to act after learning that about a third of their £25 million annual income from television was being spent on paying agents. Even before the new measures came into force, fees paid to agents by Football League clubs fell by more than £150,000 with sixteen clubs not paying any fees at all. £7.66m was paid out diring the 2005-6 season, 2 per cent down on the previous season. The money was spent on 356 transactions, but 2,298 were completed without any agents' fees being paid. The bulk of the spending was in the Coca-Cola Championship with 200 deals using agents who took fees from clubs worth £6.3 million, down from £6.8m the season before. Clubs in League One actually increased their spending by about £360,000 to £955,000.
The new rules put in place in June tighten the way that transfers are conducted with the objective of making them more transparent. It is hoped to eradicate the culture of 'bungs' that has done much to damage the reputation of football. Even if England has not had an Italian style match fixing scandal, there are no grounds for complacency. Measures taken by the Football League including prohibiting agents from 'dual representation', the practice that puts them on both sides of the table in negotiations, acting for both player and club. This must be the ultimate 'win win' situation for any intermediary and it is difficult to think of parallels in any other sector of business. Even estate agents only take fees from sellers. The Football League has also barred agents from passing on to clubs the cost of representing a player.
The average value of the fees in the 356 transactions in the Football League in 2005/6 was £21,000. Teams with Premiership aspirations paid out the biggest fees. Leeds United paid out £604,800 on fees and Southampton £575,000. Crewe Alexandra paid out £15,000 on 26 transactions, well under £1,000 a deal on average. Sixteen clubs managed not to pay anything to agents. None of them were from the Championship, but they included six League 1 sides, among them Colchester United and Huddersfield Town, Colchester securing promotion.
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