Smith: Agents aren't all sinners

Standard Sport14 April 2012

Football agents are likely to come under fire again today when the Football League reveal their clubs paid £5million to them in the second half of last year.

Leeds, relegated from the Premiership last season, have already admitted they committed a staggering £1.5m to agents in the summer, making them the biggest payers in the Football League.

The overall amount is certain to cause concern among club chairmen and supporters but one leading agent, John Smith of First Artist, claimed they had become convenient targets for the ills of the modern game. "There are good agents and bad agents but we are not the catch-all for all the sins of the football fathers," he said.

Brian Mawhinney, the Conservative MP who is chairman of the Football League, says publishing the figures, which include a club-by-club breakdown, is necessary for reasons of transparency and accountability.

But Smith added: "Mr Mawhinney should spend more time protecting the future of the Football League instead of worrying about third-party commissions. Clubs are big enough and grown-up enough to manage their own finances instead of being lectured by a former politician."

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