How Do I Become a Football Agent …… first, ask yourself WHY ?
I Want to be a Football Agent …. HOW ?
On a regular basis and I guess like many other licensed football agents I am asked the following questions (or something similar) :
- I want to be a football agent, where do I start
- Have you any positions/vacancies in your organisation, I want to be an agent
- I have applied for the licensed agents exam, have you any advice
I could just ignore the question and choose not respond ,
OR I could take the approach of many agents I spoke to when I first made the decision to take the next step on the ‘agents ladder’ …. to tell all those enquiring “not to bother” and/or “you wont make it”.
However I did get valued and courteous responses from 2 agents (GC and TS), don’t misinterpret what their responses were. As I said they were courteous and valued responses yet they were realistic, cautionary and not exactly ‘go for it’.
Based on this I thought it only fair for me to offer my take on it (with ten initial tips), as I believe there is a place for more football agents ……. BUT ……… THE GOOD ONES !!!!
Tip 1 – Ask Why
Ask yourself …….why do you want to be a football agent ?
If you haven’t an answer by NOW, then you don’t truly have a valid reason …. Forget it !.
Tip 2 – “Show me the Money”?
If your reason was along the lines of “I can earn lots of money” ……. again forget it !
You either won’t make that objective and/or are looking at the career for the wrong primary reason
Tip 3 – More Than One Reason
Now compile a list of at least 4 other reasons
If you haven’t at least 4 other valid reason in the next 5-10 minutes …. question your reasons !.
Tip 4 – Qualifications
If you have a professional qualification (e.g. Law), is there a valid reason why you aren’t pursuing that route and thus wasting all of that study and hard work? Alternatively how can you use that area of expertise to develop a niche offering as an ‘agent’
e.g. if you have legal qualifications why aren’t you considering a career as a sports lawyer, if I was younger I would jump at that opportunity.
Tip 5 – Morals & Ethics
If you have a very strong moral compass, carefully reconsider your career path.
I am by no means saying you have to be corrupt or unethical, but there are certain things you will probably have to ‘turn a blind eye’ to , ‘bite your tongue’ with and/or choose discretion.
Tip 6 – Personality
Learn not to take rejection personally – stubbornness, a rhinoceros hide and discretion are good tools to have.
Tip 7 – Lies and Frustration
Prepare yourself for frustration, infuriation and temptation.
There is lots of waiting and a need for patience …. However there may well be plenty of very tempting opportunities to take short cuts, and not all of them legal and/or ethical
Tip 8 – Work for an established agency
If you are offered the opportunity to go and work for one of the larger agencies, be prepared to do so as these opportunities rarely present themselves.
HOWEVER make sure it is on your terms and in your best interests (seek legal advice)
Tip 9 – Money
If you are going to do this independently and legally, make sure you have some savings as it is safe to say you won’t make a profit for a considerable amount of time unless you do things (i) illegally, (ii) unethically and/or are extremely lucky
Tip 10 – Licensed or Unlicensed
I would never advise someone to go the ‘unlicensed agent’ route although many do.
Have a look at The FA website; look at the process of becoming a licensed agent and all of the rules and regulations that go with it. (www.thefa.com and www.fifa.com provide a lot of information on this at the time of writing this article).
** NOTE : The envisaged changes to the agency regulations and the current licensing of football agents by FIFA and the National Associations (see the article “End of the FIFA Football Agents License ?” is at the time of writing this somewhat uncertain. In fact the English FA have at this moment in time suspended all examinations for the licensing of new football agents.