“There is that perception, maybe from the outside and unfounded in many cases, that anyone can be an agent,” says Dean Eldredge, who runs Oporto Sports.
Eldredge deals exclusively with managers and coaches, working with Sven-Goran Eriksson before his death in August, and passed the first exam in April 2023.
Oporto has 15 coaches and managers on its books including former Leicester and Bristol City boss Nigel Pearson, Barnsley’s Darrell Clarke, Rotherham’s Steve Evans and ex-Lincoln and Blackburn chief Michael Appleton.
“It’s an easy narrative to say ‘oh, there’s a lot of money being lost to the game because it’s going to agents’,” Eldredge says.
“Well, if the agents are good and the agency is well run then they’re essential to support that individual.
“While the exam is a positive step for the industry, it was far less relevant for me.
“I might be one of very few who specialise in working with managers so that could be something they could look at.”
The exam may not correct everything but it is the first step in having the minimum knowledge about the international transfer system, how it works, how a player can be registered with clubs or how to represent minors.
The exam is broadly welcomed, despite some criticism of the questions. It is estimated to have cut the amount of agents by over half.
Fifa accepts the questions bear little relation to an agent’s daily responsibility – and they are not supposed to. Fifa regulates the international transfer system and not the day-to-day care of players, so the exam focuses on knowledge of the market, not the human being.
“If it limits the number of bad agents in the game then it’s good. It shouldn’t be a given you could just go in and work in football,” says former Walsall and Doncaster defender Jimmy O’Connor, who has joined Wasserman.
It is one of the biggest agencies in the world, with clients including Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca, Manchester City and England defender John Stones, Liverpool’s Curtis Jones and Newcastle’s Harvey Barnes.
O’Connor is sitting the exam on his 40th birthday, after a 15-year playing career which started as a trainee at Aston Villa and finished at Kidderminster.
Former Bristol City and Norwich striker Aaron Wilbraham – who passed his exam last year – is at Murdock Sports Group, headed by former Preston and Northern Ireland defender Colin Murdock.
“I had bad experiences,” said Wilbraham, who played for 10 clubs and retired aged 40 in 2020.
“I remember my first agent saying ‘it doesn’t matter who your agent is, if you do it on the pitch you’ll get your moves’. That’s not the case.
“Everything else off the pitch needs to be taken care of so you can concentrate on the football.
“If you are doing well you need someone in the background bringing attention to it, spinning plates and getting interest.
“The player has someone to call when something’s gone wrong and may not want to ring his dad, who may be a builder and doesn’t know what to do next.
“They have someone who knows football.”