Struan Marshall

Yesterday's Guardian (Wednesday's) has an article in the Sports Section about football agents and how much money they were taking from the sport. There were five big pictures of particularly influential agents and the one in the middle was Struan Marshall. Apparently the 20 Premier League clubs in England have paid agents £70.7 million in fees. They work for clubs as well as for players but, in theory at least, not for both sides in the same transaction although there is some doubt about this. However, Struan was the son of Ron Marshall who was a sprinter for Garscube Harriers in the Ming Campbell and Les Piggott days. He himself started with Garscube and was third in the Scottish Under 15 Steeplechase and was at that time approached to join Clydebank AAC. Because he was training with our group at the time (Peter and Derek Halpin, Charlie McIntosh and company as well as one of his particular friends Sam Wallace of Cambuslang) he decided to join us instead. A 51 second 400 runner and a 1:56 800 man his particular friends in the club were Peter and Derek Halpin and Gary Higgins who is now living in Atlanta, Georgia. He started as an agent early on doing boot deals for some of his friends from Douglas Academy and some of their friends (three Rangers and three Aberdeen players) to start with. He then moved to an established firm and was the chief European football agent for the very successful SFX Agency. When it was taken over by the WMG (Wasserman Media Group) he went with it and it has been pretty well success all the way for the guy who used to wear the big C! The Guardian mentions the following among his clients - Jamie Carragher, Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, Joleon Lescott and Simon Bayliff. Chances are that he was seriously involved in the transfers last summer of Owen to Man U and Lescott to Man City. According to the Guardian the percentage that agents are usually paid for these deals is 5%of the transfer fee or the player's salary depending on whom they represent. Well done Struan - he must be in the running for the most successful in financial terms of all Clydesdale Harriers in the twentieth Century. The message is - if you're only quite a good footballer, give up playing it, polish up your gift of the gab skills, practise selling things a couple of hours a day and start a wee agency! There's more money in it. Why would Tony Blair's second son, Nicky, take it up otherwise? It's always good to hear of a Harrier doing well.