What makes for a 'Good' Football Agent - Part 1 : Players don't need 'Super Agents' .... they just need 'Good' ones.
Jonathan Booker
Resolving Costly Sports Disputes Before They Escalate | In the business of 'score-draws', and avoiding expensive 'losses'.
My decision to take a step back from the agency world and refocus has led to more people to pose the question?“What makes a good (football) agent?”, and in all honesty I can say there is no one right, or indeed one wrong answer.
This poses a huge dilemma for players (both young and old) with constant noise and ‘advice’ from various sources (which is often ill informed) on the topic of agents. Not least who is ‘good’, who is ‘bad’ and who they should sign with as their agent.
One thing to stress, is that football players DO?NOT?have to have an agent,
Whilst I would like to think of myself as a ‘Good’ agent, quite honestly, I am by no means the finished article or best for many reasons; whether it be knowledge, skillset, approach, success, values or for a plethora of other reasons.
Players should not rush into signing with a ‘bad’ agent, wait for the right agent for the player.
Arguably,?No Football Agent,?is Better Than a Bad Football Agent.
The fact is, that despite the common caricature and stereotypes that the media, pundits, clubs and fans like to envisage, all agents are different. Whilst some of my peers (past and present) are better than me, some are not as good as me. Some are better than me in certain areas, yet not as good in others and vice versa ……..?the fact is no agent is perfect or indeed ‘super’.
The Rise of a ‘Super-Agent’
The term ‘super-agent’ used to annoy me, now it just makes me chuckle. The reason why I laugh when I hear the term ‘super-agent’, is solely down to the history of superhero attire, and the thought of some so-called ‘super-agent’s’ wearing their underpants on the outside of their clothes, a table-cloth draped over their shoulders and a cheap children’s fancy dress mask on their face ……. not a pretty picture for some agents I can think of, so I apologise for placing that image in your mind.
‘super-agent’s’ wearing their underpants on the outside of their clothes
So, what is a ‘super-agent’? Well in my eyes it is not one that can fly, leap tall buildings in a single bound, or shoot lasers from their eyes (although some may claim to have such abilities if it gets them the client, fits their agenda or they get paid enough).
For me the easiest way to identify a so-called ‘super-agent’ is arguably their matching ‘super’ bank balance, by whatever means it has been accumulated and which arguably should give them leverage and influence in the industry.
Most Players Don’t Need a ‘Super-Agent’, they Just Need a 'Good' Agent.
Some players (their families and ‘entourages’) still aim to be represented by one of these so-called ‘super-agents’, and likewise some agents strive to be labelled as such. I would just like to state:?“a ‘super-agent’ doesn’t always result in?(or mean)?a super player?as a client”.
So, what I would say to players (young or old), their families, partners, friends, advisors is:?“you don’t want/need a ‘super-agent’, just focus on getting a good one”. Therein brings us back to the original question for this article;?what makes a 'good' agent?
Regulated, Authorised and ‘Licensed’
The first step in finding a good agent, is to ensure they are regulated and authorised (not saying that makes them good however).
Now, the ‘waters have been muddied’ so much over the years with the changes in licensing, regulation, terminology that it is understandable that there is confusion over who is authorised as an agent (intermediary), and who isn’t. Plus, when, where, how and by whom they are authorised and regulated.
In the past for players, it largely didn’t matter if they were represented by a licensed/authorised entity or not; but this has changed, and is likely to change further with evolving football agent regulations whereby regulations (and thus sanctions) may be applied to players for using unauthorised (unlicensed) agents.
Don’t rely on the ‘agents’ word, their business card, their LinkedIn profile or reports in the media as to whether they are authorised (licensed) or not
It is (or should be) surprisingly easy to check if an agent is authorised, as the National Football Association with whom they are registered should keep a register of the authorised agents registered with them, their level of authorisation and the date to when they are authorised.
Don’t rely on the ‘agents’ word, their business card, their LinkedIn profile or reports in the media (who have a tendency to ‘lump’ licensed and unauthorised ones all in together as ‘agents’) …… the agent needs to be registered with the applicable national association first and foremost.
It must be noted; just because an agent is authorised in one country that doesn’t necessarily mean they are authorised elsewhere.
Minor Infringements
This is one of my favourite areas for people to check the knowledge of an agent and in essence whether they know the regulations and/or abide by them. If they don’t know the regulations (despite being authorised), are they good enough to represent a player’s best interests and operate within the same regulations?
If, on an agent’s website, business card, letterhead they use a FIFA logo and/or an FA logo (in England) to symbolise that they are a licensed agent (or any other title, with the exception of ‘FIFA Match Agents’), their knowledge of the regulations isn’t as good as it should be.
Also check the terminology they use to present themselves, as for FIFA and some National Associations the terminology they should be using is quite definitive (e.g., ‘FA Registered Intermediary’).
‘Qualifications’, Experience and Knowledge
Under normal circumstances in any industry, you would expect experience and knowledge to go hand in hand, but in the football agency world that isn’t always the case.
Granted, with experience, those who are established football agents should be able to back this up with knowledge, but it is not always the case, as the different generations of agents have been required to retain knowledge, train and pass exams etc to different levels.
Qualifications, experience (and lack thereof) or being a former player don’t necessarily indicate a good or bad agent
Whilst some relatively new agents come into the industry with a variety of qualifications and experience in areas such as law, finance, media they in turn may not have the experience or aptitude to adapt to the practical an often-quirky nuances that occur in the football agency world.
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Likewise experienced agents, whilst having experience may not necessarily have the specialised knowledge, as they often haven’t been required to continue their own professional development and thus have never really studied such things as the regulations or wider issues (e.g. employment law, tax, work permits).
Football Agent Courses
There have in recent years been several?football agent courses?advertised on the market, but as of yet I don’t believe any of these are approved by the football authorities (e.g., FIFA, UEFA, FA), and as such I remain unconvinced by the quality of some of the courses or indeed the usefulness, value or relevance of what they purport to teach. This is not to say they are all of nominal value, as from my experience additional knowledge (if correct), always has value in what is a very nuanced and unconventional football agency world.
numerous football agent courses, very few (if any) endorsed by the likes of FIFA, UEFA or the Football Association
However, with the introduction of the new FIFA Agents License (and regulations) I am encouraged that two of the things that may well be implemented by FIFA in the next few years are
?……… both of which are long overdue in my opinion and should assist not only agents, but also players who choose licensed agent representation. It should then at least give some semblance of a minimum required standard and associated knowledge.
Yet, as it stands, the aspect of an Agents knowledge and experience is an area where the players judgement on who they have as an agent is tricky. As such, any advice I would give would be again, to try and pick a balance of the two; experience and knowledge, whilst also taking into account what suits the player best (their character, aims, objectives and expectations).
‘David vs Goliath‘
(Independent Football Agents or Big Sports Agencies)
When evaluating whether the ‘agent’ is a good agent some are often swayed by who they work for and how big that agency is.
From my experience as an agent, it is true to say some of the best operators work for the bigger agencies. However, a big agency doesn’t necessarily mean all of their agents are good, but then again neither does it make a small independent agent a (good or) bad agent either.
The fact that a player is represented by a big agency should be a positive thing, but it isn’t always. It is reasonable to expect that a big agency will have more staff, more resources, more influence and more licensed and experienced agents. So, with that a player should assess:
This doesn’t mean being represented by a large agency is a bad thing, as some of these agencies have created not only success for themselves, but also many of their clients.
They undoubtedly have resources and influence to help any player …. but do they? Are such resources proportioned appropriately and fairly throughout their client base, and who is ‘REALLY’ assigned to be representing the player?
Why Are Some Agents?Famous (or Infamous)
As I wrote in an article some years back (Football Agents : Know Your Place !) there is no doubt that some football agents think they are the star (or the talent), something I have long disagreed with.
However, this leads me to highlight something that I think it worthwhile to consider when defining a good agent.
If the agent is well known …. WHY? and likewise, if they aren’t well known …. WHY?
Are they famous or infamous? Are they not well known by choice? – and what are the reasons? Bad headlines for an agent doesn’t necessarily mean they are a bad agent in how they have represented their clients’ interests.
Likewise, just because an agent is unheard of doesn’t make them a bad agent for their clients, as they most likely get on with their job in the background, supporting the client and don’t court publicity for the preening of their own egos.
What is best for the player-client? ………. An agent who gets on with their job quietly and diligently or one that steps into the ‘limelight’ being featured in a contract signing photo (a pet hate of mine), snapped by paparazzi accompanying a client to the latest nightclub opening or getting other media attention for all the wrong reasons (e.g., unsettling players and their contractual stability at a club with comments via the media)?
So after part one of this article, a footballer (or their) family should have at least the foundations of sorting the ‘wheat from the chaff’ in terms of agents – HOWEVER it still doesn’t sort the good from the bad.
Part two of this article goes into more detail of ….
The original article ' Footballers Don’t Need a Super Agent, Just a Good Agent – Part 1 : Shortlisting A Good Agent' (part one) can be read at :