HUDDERSFIELD TOWN paid £213,343 to agents during their promotion campaign.
The latest Football League figures shows Championship clubs accounted for £18.7m of a total of £21.7m spent during 2011-12. League I and League II clubs spent £1.8m and £0.9m respectively, with Town behind Sheffield Wednesday (£332,820), Charlton (£265,170) and and MK Dons (£249,180) in the list of most spent.
Five clubs did not spend any money on agents’ fees – Hartlepool United, Accrington Stanley, AFC Wimbledon, Barnet and Crewe Alexandra) while a further 22 clubs spent less than £25,000. Town’s costs were on 15 new registrations and transfers, seven updated contracts, three cancelled contracts and 10 loans (35 players in total).
In announcing the figures, Football League Chairman Greg Clarke, said: “While £21m is a lot of money leaving the game, it should also be noted that a considerable amount of this total has been spent by a small number of clubs. In fact, almost a fifth of the overall figure was spent by one club alone (West Ham United).
“Where such spending forms part of a sustainable business plan it shouldn’t be of great concern and supporters should be encouraged to see our clubs committing themselves to the new Financial Fair Play regulations that will take effect across all three divisions in the new season.
“In time, these rules will require clubs to be more circumspect with regard to their spending and may help reduce the costs incurred in this area.”
