Fears grow as clubs in League pay agents £5m

England's football authorities came under increasing pressure today to clamp down on agents after it was revealed that Football League clubs paid out more than £5million in fees in the second half of last year.

Leeds United, relegated from the Premiership last season, were by far the biggest spenders, handing out a staggering £1.55m in agents' fees for transfers and contract deals between 1 July and 31 December.

The monies were paid to help them offload highly paid stars such as Mark Viduka, who joined Middlesbrough for £4.5m in July.

According to the Football League report, Championship clubs accounted for 88 per cent (£4.4m) of the total with League One and Two clubs spending £ 358 , 000 and £ 267,000 respectively. Leicester City were the second highest payer with £405,000.

The average fee per transaction was nearly £20,000.

The figures are tiny compared to the cheques for £8.5m that Manchester United wrote out to agents in 16 deals last season. But the size of the pay-out has still surprised Football League chiefs. The previous six-month period saw clubs commit £1.4m.

Football League chairman Sir Brian Mawhinney said: "Too much money is leaving football through payments to agents. This report strengthens the argument of those who believe that football needs an effective regulatory framework to ensure a level playing field for clubs when negotiating with players."

This is the second set of figures produced by the Football League clubs, who in stark contrast to the Premier League, have undertaken to publish the details of their agents fees twice a year.

At a meeting last summer Premiership clubs agreed to file all agents' fees with the Premier League and the Football Association, but rejected any suggestion of making them public.

United, criticised for the secretive way they use agents, have since decided to publish their details but other Premiership clubs have refused to follow their example.

There are increasing calls, including from some agents themselves, for the Premier League to produce a similar report.

Mawhinney said: "Deals using agents need to be more transparent, not least so that supporters can understand when agents are genuinely helping clubs to behave with financial responsibility. By publishing these figures Football League clubs continue to give a lead within the game."

If the FA does not take a lead in the agents issue soon, the matter could be taken out of their hands.

Last month a parliamentary survey revealed that eight out of 10 clubs outside of the Premiership want agents to be regulated. Half of the clubs believed an independent regulator should police the game and not the FA.

The FA are drawing up new regulations which are expected to be introduced in the summer.

Today's sobering lists of fees will focus the mind of new FA chief executive Brian Barwick who is due to take office at the end of the month.

Leeds chairman Gerald Krasner defended their high fees, saying the club were desperate to get rid of big earners and needed an agent to broker deals. It is significant that Leicester and Wolves (£360,125), who also went down to the Championship last season, were at the top of the agents fees table.

West Ham, by contrast, managed to conduct more transactions-than the three clubs - 30 - for £163,319, however.

Watford did 20 transactions for just £2,000 in fees. Crewe were the only Championship club which did not pay out a penny in fees despite completing 17 transactions.

The report covers the busy pre-season transfer market in July and therefore provides a more realistic picture of the fees being paid than the first half of the year.

Clubs engaged in 1,498 transactions (new registrations, transfers or contract changes) in 257 of which an agents fee was paid.

The average fee per transaction was £19,551.