Agents' fees rise in Football League

English Football League clubs paid out £12.7m (€15.4m) in agents’ fees last season – a rise of £3.9m (€4.7m) from the previous year.

The League have been publishing the figures since September 2003 as part of their bid for transparency and the latest report released this morning shows that out of 2,392 transactions between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010, an agent was paid 396 times.

Fourteen of the 72 clubs did not pay anything to agents, while a further 23 clubs only paid less than £10,000 (€12,000).

The bulk of the £12,739,867 (€15.5m) outlay came from Championship clubs who paid £10,131,314 (€12.3m), while £2,241,771 (€2.7m) came from League One clubs and £366,781 in League Two.

Middlesbrough spent the most individually, with £1,464,200 (€1.8m) being spent across a total of 29 transactions, while Newcastle were the only other club to spend over seven figures, with the St James’ Park outfit paying £1,073,076 (€1.3m) over 39 transactions.

Southampton (£401,248, or €487,000) spent the most in League One, while Notts County (£246,483, or €299,000) accounted for over two-thirds of the money spent by League Two clubs.

New Football League chairman Greg Clarke has voiced his concern over the rise, saying: “Given the current economic climate, it is worrying to 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.”

The 14 clubs not to pay anything to agents were Accrington, Barnet, Bournemouth, Chesterfield, Crewe, Dagenham, Darlington, Exeter, Hereford, Lincoln, Macclesfield, Port Vale, Stockport and Tranmere.