Agents take hefty sum out of English game

Blackburn Rovers' Jordan Rhodes cost 8m from Huddersfield Town.

Clubs committed a total of £21.5m to agents during the 2012-13 season – £170,000 less than the previous 12 months.

Championship clubs accounted for £18.6m of the total, with Blackburn Rovers spending most at £3.5m, a number due largely to the £8m signing of Jordan Rhodes from Huddersfield Town.

The biggest spenders in Yorkshire were Leeds United who spent £1.2m

League 1 and League 2 clubs spent £2.2m and £0.7m respectively. Clubs committed to pay agents in 776 of the 3,746 player transactions that took place. Rotherham United spent the most in League Two but earned promotion.

Seven clubs did not spend any money on agents’ fees at all (Blackpool, Hartlepool United, Accrington Stanley, AFC Wimbledon, Morecambe, Barnet and Crewe Alexandra) with 24 clubs spending less than £25,000 each, York City among them. In announcing the latest agents’ fees figures Football League Chairman Greg Clarke said: “Again, this is a considerable amount of money to be leaving the game. However, the real challenge is to ensure that such payments are part of a sustainable financial model with clubs only spending what they can afford. In conjunction with clubs, we’re making real progress towards this goal and now have all three divisions operating Financial Fair Play regulations.”

Spending in Yorkshire

Barnsley £169,360

Huddersfield Town £459,670

Hull City £929,535

Leeds United £1,283,234

Middlesbrough £365,947

Sheffield Wednesday £487,800

Doncaster Rovers £76,900

Sheffield United £84,647

Bradford City £62,026

Rotherham United £106,383

York City £11,500