Blackpool buck the spending trend as agents rake in record £12.7m in fees
BLACKPOOL are living proof that big money payments to agents don’t necessary bring success.
Ian Holloway’s (right) men sealed a shock promotion to the Premier League last May after beating Cardiff in the Championship play-off final.
But new figures released by the Football League yesterday showed the Seasiders achieved it with their house well and truly in order.
The figures showed Blackpool forked out just £40,000 in agents’ fees in their nine transfer transactions last season – the second lowest figure in the Championship – compared to mid-table Middlesbrough’s £1.4m from 29 transactions.
In all, Football League clubs paid out £12.7m in agents’ fees last season – a rise of £3.9m from the previous year – with agents paid out in 396 of the 2,392 players transactions between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010. In the previous season, only 229 transactions involved agents.
Of that £12.73m, Championship clubs paid out £10.13m, while £2,241,771 came from League One clubs and £366,781 from League Two.
Gordon Strachan’s Middlesbrough were the biggest spenders with north-east rivals Newcastle the only other team to part with a seven-figure sum – although they had promotion back to Premier League to show for it.
Southampton (£401,248) spent the most in League One, while Notts County (£246,483) accounted for over two-thirds of the money spent by League Two clubs. Fourteen of the 72 clubs did not pay anything to agents.
l Meanwhile, Blackpool have been rocked by the resignation of Karl Oyston as chairman and director.
Oyston, 43, has been in charge of the Tangerines since 1999 and saw his side make a dream start to their Premier League campaign with a 4-0 win at Wigan on Saturday.
But Oyston offered to stand down post-match, citing frustration with some agents. He will stay on as chief executive until the end of the season while a replacement is sought.
AGENTS | HOW FEES ARE DIVIDED
League Transactions Loans Total
Championship 778 238 £10,131,314
League One 955 308 £2,241,771
League Two 659 286 £366,781
TOTAL 2,392 832 £12,739,867
CHAMPIONSHIP | AGENTS’ FEE LIST
Team Amount
1 Middlesbrough (11) £1,464,200
2 Newcastle (1) £1,073,076
3 West Brom (2) £950,135
4 Nott’m Forest (3) £739,450
5 Leicester City (5) £655,710
6 Bristol City (10) £505,000
7 Reading (9) £476,735
8 QPR (13) £465,240
9 Derby County (14) £434,350
10 Preston NE (17) £385,000
11 Swansea City (7) £335,241
12 Sheffield Utd (8) £324,500
13 Barnsley (18) £317,300
14 Watford (16) £315,684
15 Cardiff City (4) £313,000
16 Ipswich Town (15) £298,308
17 Plymouth Argyle (23) £275,500
18 Crystal Palace (21) £221,800
19 Sheffield Wed (22) £209,400
20 Coventry City (19) £147,325
21 Doncaster (12) £125,560
22 Peterborough (24) £46,500
23 Blackpool (6) £40,000
24 Scunthorpe Utd (20) £33,300