McTaggart showing prospective agents the road ahead after FIFA relax their regulations

Ever seen South American sensation Julio Geordio paraded by an English Premier League club after putting pen to paper on a multi-million pound contract and thought you could have brokered the deal?

If you have answered "yes" to any of the above questions then you are not alone. An increasing number of people are becoming players’ representatives as a consequence of FIFA relaxing their regulations last year.

In the past, anyone wanting to become an agent had to deposit a £100,000 bond with world football’s governing body. That later changed and a stringent examination on topics including contract legalities, immigration rules and registration laws had to be passed.

These days, though, it is an altogether more straightforward process. FIFA have deregulated the governance of football agents and given them the new title of football intermediaries.

“A barmaid could become an agent,” says established Scottish “intermediary” Phil McTaggart. “Every country is different, but all you have to do in Scotland is fill in a form. You also have to pass a check if you are going to work with minors. But, basically, it is open to the world.

“The problem was there were so many unregistered agents doing illegal deals. There was no way of finding out the financial details of those deals because they were being done under the table. FIFA changed things to make them more transparent.”

The upsurge of interest in the profession has led to many prospective agents contacting McTaggart and his associates for advice. He has set up an event to outline the dos and don'ts in his line of work. “How to be a Football Agent” will be held at the Blythswood Hotel in Glasgow this evening evening before being taken around the country.

Hosted by Sky Sports presenter David Tanner and featuring contributions from former Celtic, Scotland and West Ham striker Frank McAvennie and broadcaster turned mindfulness guru Connie McLaughlin, McTaggart will talk through what is required to be a success in the profession.

“It is an introductory seminar about how to be an agent,” he said. “People are coming to us and saying: ‘I would love to be an agent, but I don’t know how to go about it’. We get requests every single day from people all over the world. We will educate them about what is involved. It is not just a case of filling in a form.

“We talk about the skills you need. How you recruit a player, how you process a transfer, how you deal with clubs, how you deal with your local association, how you deal with the media. Until you know how to do these things, you will be miles behind.

“With the number of requests we have received we haven’t been able to speak to everyone. But we have spoken to people over a beer, over a coffee, whatever, and given them pointers. People are listening.”

One of them, William Glavin, has benefitted from their mentorship to such a degree that he now has a burgeoning stable of Ladbrokes Premiership players, including one at Scottish champions Celtic, on his books.

“We have got the potential to fast track people,” said McTaggart. “It could take you a three, four, five years to get to a good level. We can half that. That is how it has worked. It worked with William, who took Ryan Christie to Celtic last year, and other lads.

“He passed the exam back in 2012 and came to us for help. We spent a lot of time with him over the next two years and now he is tied up with a big agency in London. He has players at Celtic, Dundee United, Inverness and Motherwell.”

It is fair to say that football agents do not have a particularly shiny public image. The newspaper sting that led to Sam Allardyce losing his job as England manager in October after just 67 days and one game in charge has done little to improve it.

Allardyce was caught on camera telling reporters posing as Far Eastern businessman how to circumvent third part ownership regulations in a meeting which was set up by the Scottish agent, Scott McGarvey.

But McTaggart, who has worked with Barry Ferguson, Craig Moore and Chris Sutton over the years, feels their reputation is unjustified in the vast majority of cases and stresses that there is far more to his line of work than wearing a sharp suit and owning an iPhone.

“Agents are used all around the world in recruitment,” he said. “There are good guys out there doing great jobs who you never see or hear about. You only ever hear about somebody doing something wrong.

“We have an ongoing role too. We have to look after players. We don’t just do a deal and then run away. You become a babysitter, a mentor, a psychiatrist, a travel agent. I could go on and on and on. You are a one stop shop if you are doing the job right.

“When Andy McLaren tested positive for drugs at Reading and was sacked he was in the wilderness. He was really down. He then came and played for our office team. He got his confidence and his fitness back. Bobby Williamson at Kilmarnock took a chance on him, within three weeks he had scored against Celtic and Rangers and then he was named in the Scotland squad.

“We didn’t just let him go. We went and picked him, stuck by him and got him through it even though there wasn’t a penny in it for us.

“When Barry got banned sine die at Scotland and Walter Smith told him to stay away from Rangers he had to keep himself fit. I ended up running around Strathclyde Park with him. I nearly had a heart attack keeping up with him. You need people around about you who care about you to keep your spirits up.”

McTaggart added: “There are two periods which are important to an agent. One, when a player is injured. That is when they definitely need an agent’s help. Two, when they finish football. A lot of them get divorced, a lot of them become alcoholics, some develop gambling problems, some suffer from mental illness. It is a massive problem.

“Most footballers, especially the ones who have played at a high level, haven’t prepared themselves for life after the game. One day they are a superhero, the next day they are the man in the corner.

“A lot of people looking on from the outside think it looks brilliant. They see Deadline Day on Sky and think it looks amazing. When you are doing it day in, day out, it is a career like any other. People see the glamour and think they would love to have a go at it.

“They want to be involved in football and can’t be a coach or play the game. They see that as their best opportunity into the game. If somebody has the necessary skills then they have got a chance.”

How to be a Football Agent is being held at the Blythswood Hotel tonight at 6.30pm.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-be-a-football-agent-intro-tickets-28862344048