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Expected Player Requirements – SMG Football Recruitment

Jul 17, 2024

SMG Football Talent ID

As the Head of Recruitment for SMG Football, I feel that it’s important to outline the key requirements and expectations for players seeking representation with the agency. SMG Football is committed to providing high-quality support and opportunities for athlete clients, but this partnership demands a mutual commitment to professionalism and transparency from all parties.

Essential Player Requirements for Representation

  1. Comprehensive Career History & Documentation

For SMG Football to deliver effective representation and deliver a service that you’d expect from a football agency, players must provide comprehensive and up-to-date documentation of their football careers.

This includes, but is not limited to:

Current and Past Employment Contracts: Copies of all contracts with current and previous clubs. This is to understand the complete picture of a player’s career. This is especially important for players U23 about potential training rewards.

 Representation Contracts: Documentation of any current or past agreements with other agents or agencies. This would include exclusive/non-exclusive representation agreements, sub-agency agreements, and worthless mandates that have been issued. This allows our FIFA Licensed Football Agent to understand which markets you have been promoted to in the past. We need to protect our reputation in the industry, as much as ours.

Club Release Letters: Official letters from previous clubs confirming the player’s release and their status. Again, this is especially important for U23 players concerning training rewards. For players with no training rewards, having release letters speeds up the process of promotion.

References: Professional references from coaches, club officials, or other relevant individuals. The player’s network is precious and powerful. SMG Football would look to utilise our extensive network within the game and expect you to reach out to your network for opportunities. This would be delivered strategically with full support from our Licensed FIFA Football Agents.

Video Highlights: A collection of video highlights showcasing the player’s skills, achievements, and significant moments on the pitch from the past season(s). Ideally, these will be no longer than 10 minutes and showcase your abilities on the pitch. The videos don’t require background music, just the footage.

Full Game Videos: A library of full matches in which the player has performed well, should be collected by the player during the season. If a club is interested the next step is often for their analyst team to watch past full games to gain a comprehensive view of their performance. Yes, full games are available on platforms like Wyscout. But many teams don’t have access to the platform or the league/country the player last played.

Not having full game video can be damaging to a player’s promotion. Clubs can question the professionalism of the player (and the agent) and ability of the player if recent full game footage is not available.

Career Statistics: Detailed statistics covering all aspects of the player’s career, including appearances, goals, assists, disciplinary records, injury record and any other relevant metrics are important. These can help a player stand out above others.

TransferMarkt is not a reliable resource for statistics and those included are limited. Access to good quality data allows our team of Licensed Football Agents to promote your abilities to teams more effectively and negotiate improved contracts.

  1. Professional Commitment on and off the pitch

Players must demonstrate a serious commitment to continuing and advancing their careers. This is evidenced by the quality and completeness of the information provided. Players who supply detailed and accurate career documentation show that they are proactive and dedicated to developing their career. They are looking at the bigger picture, show a personal pride to improve and develop. This will put players in the best position to maximise the opportunity if they perform well or give them the best chance to stay in the professional game if things go wrong.

  1. Importance of Quality Information

The success SMG Football to deliver high-quality representation is heavily dependent on the quality of information provided by the player. Without accurate and detailed information, it becomes exceedingly difficult for our FIFA Licensed Football Agents to effectively advocate on behalf of the player. Inaccurate or incomplete data transforms, poor quality video, and a reluctance to spend time collating the necessary information turns the representation process into a lottery rather than a strategic, fact-based endeavour. We are only as good as you, the player!

Information is Power

In the data-driven world of professional football and agency representation, information is indeed power. As Licensed FIFA Football agents, we rely on precise and comprehensive data & information to negotiate contracts, secure transfers, and promote our players to top clubs. Our ability to succeed in these tasks is directly proportional to the quality of information we have at our disposal.

Help us help you!

At SMG Football, we are dedicated to building successful careers for our players, but this requires a foundation of solid and detailed information. Players must understand that their commitment to providing thorough and accurate career documentation is crucial. Without this, our capacity to represent them effectively is severely hampered. We are football agents, not magicians, and in this industry, facts and data drive success.

We understand that on occasions, the information available to players can be challenging to receive, especially after the fact, a season has been completed or a contract has ended. SMG Football will try and find solutions, and have experience in working with players with complex situations, but the player equally has to understand that the football player market is fiercely competitive. It’s brutal and only the strongest and most professional survive.

By ensuring that all required documents and information are meticulously compiled and up-to-date, players not only help their own career progression but also enable SMG Football to maximise the opportunity. We look forward to partnering with players who are serious about their careers and ready to deliver high standards on and off the pitch to create a longstanding a memorable partnership.

Game Plan for Prospective Players

  • Gather and organise all relevant career documentation.
  • Ensure all information is up-to-date and accurately reflects your career history and achievements.
  • Be proactive in maintaining a record of your career statistics and video highlights.
  • Understand that your commitment to this process reflects your professional dedication and seriousness about your career.

SMG Football is committed to developing players careers. We are not brokers; we manage and develop the careers of players. If you are looking for shortcuts in your career, perhaps we’re not the agency for you. But if you are looking to standout above the rest and develop a long and lucrative career in the game, then SMG Football and our experienced team could be the perfect partnership.

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