Where are they now? Sunderland’s Martin Smith

Football agents nowadays tend to have a bad reputation. Take Paul Pogba’s agent for example. The amount of money he will have made from the midfielder’s transfer to Manchester United is staggering and makes you question whether he really does care about his client, or if he’s just in it for the money.

This is why it may come as a shock that “The Son of Pele” and all round top bloke, Martin Smith, has become a football consultant.

The former forward featured for the Black Cats between 1992 and 1999, going onto make 145 appearances for the club, scoring 28 goals.

Thirteen years after he made his debut for Sunderland against Luton Town and bagged his first goal, Shoot! caught up with Martin to see how he was finding life off the field as an agent…

So what is your role at Base Soccer Agency and are you enjoying it?

“Yeah it’s decent. I mean I basically just look after the younger players I’ve got on my books.

“I have six lads at Sunderland, lads at other North East clubs and up in Scotland.

“You spend a lot of time watching them play, see how they’re doing and try to be there for them really.”

Sunderland manager, Moyes – Photo: Simon Stacpoole / Offside.

What is the day-to-day life of a football agent like?

“I mean it varies. Obviously if there are games on, you’re out watching them play and a lot of the time, especially the younger ones these days between the ages of 18 and 21.

“If they’re not getting first-team football at the likes of Sunderland, you try to get scouts there to watch them and maybe take them on loan. It’s a really big thing nowadays to try and get the boys on loan to try and get that first-team experience.

“You’re trying to find ways to get people to look into specific players and hopefully you’ve got somebody that matches their criteria.

“Basically, we’re doing all we can to get their foot on the ladder as early as possible really. It’s not easy obviously. From when I started, you’ve got a lot more foreign players and the Under-21 league, which is now the Under-23 league, has come in for a lot of criticism, so you get a lot of managers who won’t touch the younger players unless they’ve got experience.

“But how are you getting experience if you’re not going out on loan?”

A lot of ex-footballers go into coaching, but was becoming a football agent always the plan?

“*Laughs* It was something I had never even thought about to be honest. I was playing in the Northern League at Sunderland RCA and enjoying it, but unfortunately my knees were packing up again.

“An opportunity came up via Gary Porter, who played for Watford, but is a Sunderland lad, and the company were looking for somebody in the North East.

“I’d previously tried scouting and it wasn’t something you could make a living out of at the level I was at. It was something that just appeared to us five years ago and it meant I could stay in football.

“I know a lot of agents, well they’re called intermediates now, who have got a bad name, but we have a lot of good people who care and look after the lads.

“I enjoy it. You get to know the lads from the ages of 16/17 and see them grow, see them play, make their debuts and it’s rewarding actually. I mean, I’m sure there are people out there who don’t look at it the way I do and just think about the money, but I get a buzz from being involved with the lads.

“I’ve made every mistake under the sun so I just try and pass on my advice and tell them to do as I say, not as I did.”