Why Most Football Agencies Fail Players Overseas

By Alan Deriard
Football Agent | Founder of Elite Football

Most Agencies Treat You Like a Number

Most football agencies treat you like a number.

They are not built for the kid with no connections.
They are not built for the player with no real pathway in his home country.
They are not built for the amateur who has no idea where to start in the overseas professional scene.

That was me.

And that is exactly why I built Elite Football the way I did.

Because I know what it feels like to chase this dream without a map, without help, and without anyone actually caring what happens to you after you leave home.

How the Industry Usually Works

Here is how it usually goes.

You pay someone who promises you an opportunity.

They throw you into a trial, usually one that is not even real, and the second you land, they disappear.

There is no plan.
There is no aftercare.
There is no long-term support.
There is just a bank transfer and a “good luck.”

That is the model most players get sold.

And it is broken.

Most agencies are purely transactional. They are not building your future. They are not guiding you through the process. They are not helping you adjust, improve, or course correct.

They are selling you short-term buzz.

That is all.

And the reason more people do not speak about it is simple. Too many players are embarrassed. They lost a lot of money, got no real value, and do not even realise how poor the setup was until it is too late.

The Most Common Trap: Fake Football Trials

One of the biggest traps in the football agency world is fake trials.

You pay a lot of money.
You show up.
There are 80 other kids there.
You get told scouts are watching.

But no one is actually watching.

No one is evaluating you seriously.
No one is planning your next step.
No one is doing anything meaningful with your performance.

It is just a business model dressed up as opportunity.

Then there is the other version.

You get a DM on Instagram from someone calling themselves an agent because they post football content online. They ask you to send a deposit to a random bank account and promise they can make things happen overseas.

Most of these people do not even have a real network.

They are either hoping something sticks or taking advantage of the fact that you have no idea how the industry actually works.

That is the reality.

Why I Believe Most Agencies Get It Wrong

The problem with most agencies is not just that they are poor operators.

It is that their entire structure is wrong.

Most agents only work with one to three clubs.

Think about that for a second.

There are billions of people in the world and thousands of football environments, but your future is somehow meant to depend on whether one of those one to three clubs happens to be your perfect fit?

That makes no sense.

It is like assuming your high school girlfriend is definitely your soulmate just because she was the first one you met.

Probably not.

That is the issue with small, shallow agency models. They narrow your options before your journey has even started.

The Sushi Analogy That Explains Everything

Here is the easiest way to understand the difference.

Imagine you wake up one day craving sushi.

You have two choices.

The first place sells sushi, kebabs, and pizza.
The second place is a proper sushi train that just does sushi.

Where do you think you are getting the better sushi?

Obviously, the place that specialises in sushi.

That is exactly how I look at football agencies.

You have people who just focus on building real overseas player pathways. Then you have people who say they are agents, but they are also coaches, tour operators, content creators, camp organisers, and whatever else makes them money that week.

They are trying to squeeze revenue out of every possible angle.

That usually means they do all of it badly.

At Elite Football, we focus on the one thing that matters most: helping players access real overseas opportunities and giving them proper long-term support through that process.

Why One-Man Agencies Almost Always Fall Short

The other problem is that most football agencies are basically one-man operations.

One person is doing sales.
One person is doing player management.
One person is replying to messages.
One person is organising clubs.
One person is handling admin.
One person is dealing with emergencies.

That one person is doing everything.

It is impossible to deliver quality that way.

Eventually the service falls apart.

By contrast, good operations have structure. Good operations have people focused on different roles. Good operations have systems.

Elite Football works that way.

We are not a one-man army trying to hold everything together with promises and WhatsApp messages. We have a team behind the process, and that matters because players need real support at different stages of the journey.

That is how proper operations work.

Why We Audit Clubs Before Sending Players

Another thing most agencies do not talk about is this:

A club can have a good football philosophy and still have terrible operations.

I have seen clubs with solid football ideas but awful residency setups. I have seen clubs squeeze four or five players into one room. I have seen environments where players are technically getting an opportunity, but the full setup is poor.

We refuse to send players into situations like that.

At Elite Football, we audit clubs. We look at:

• their pathway for players
• how they actually treat players
• the quality of their setup
• whether the opportunity is genuine
• whether the environment gives players a fair chance

We even include clauses in agreements that protect players and push for proper opportunity, so they are not just showing up and fading out with no real shot.

That should be normal.

In this industry, it is not.

Why This Matters to Me Personally

I left Australia at 17 to pursue my football dream.

I had no connections.
I had no help.
I just had desire.

For two years, I trialled with random clubs across Spain and Portugal. Most of them were complete time wasters. Even some of the bigger names only wanted training numbers.

I remember thinking the same thing over and over again:

Why is there no one who actually cares about amateur players?
Why is there no one who cares about the process?

That question stayed with me.

And eventually it became the foundation of this agency.

I realised I needed to build the agency I wish I had when I was 17.

What Makes Elite Football Different

We are not perfect.

But we actually care.

And that already makes us different from most of the market.

At Elite Football:

• we do not operate solo
• we have a team behind every player
• we work with real club partners
• we focus on development, not just exposure
• we provide feedback and track progress
• we help players course correct when things do not go to plan
• we do not disappear once the player lands overseas

There is real structure behind the process.

That matters because football journeys rarely go perfectly the first time.

The Real Difference Shows When Things Go Wrong

This is the biggest difference between us and most agencies.

Anyone can look good when everything is going well.

The real test is what happens when the first trip does not work. What happens when the trial does not convert. What happens when the player needs to adjust, improve, rethink, and go again.

That is where most agencies vanish.

We do not.

A huge percentage of our success stories come from players who trialled two, three, or four times overseas. Many have worked with us for years.

Why?

Because when things did not go to plan the first time, we stayed in their corner.

We reworked the strategy.
We found different clubs.
We adjusted the pathway.
We kept supporting them.

That is what real representation looks like.

It is not about what happens when everything is easy. It is about who is still there when it is not.

Who We Actually Built This For

I did not build Elite Football just for the top NPL boys.

I built it for the overlooked player.

The amateur.
The late developer.
The kid with no pathway.
The player with ability but no network.
The one who needs a system, not hype.

Because those players deserve proper support too.

Too many agencies only want the easiest cases. The already-polished players. The ones who are easy to sell.

That is not what this was built for.

This was built for the player who is serious, willing to work, and needs real help navigating the overseas game properly.

Final Thoughts

This industry is full of noise.

It is full of fake trials, shallow promises, Instagram agents, and short-term thinking.

That is why so many players get burned.

At Elite Football, we built something different.

Not just an agency that gets you on a plane.
Not just an agency that sells you a trial.
But an agency that actually cares what happens next.

Because that is what I needed when I was younger.

And that is what a lot of players still need now.

If you are serious about testing yourself with real professional clubs overseas and you want to work with people who actually care about your future long term, then that is exactly what we are here for.

Even if the answer is that you are not ready yet.

Because that is how it should be.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do most football agencies get wrong?

Most agencies operate transactionally. They sell short-term opportunities without offering real planning, support, feedback, or long-term player development.

What is a fake football trial?

A fake football trial is usually a paid event with large numbers of players and little or no genuine club interest, evaluation, or recruitment pathway behind it.

Why is club fit important in overseas football?

A player is not automatically a match for every club. Coaching style, environment, operations, opportunity, and pathway all affect whether a player can succeed.

Why does Elite Football audit clubs?

Elite Football audits clubs to make sure the football opportunity is real and that the player environment, treatment, and living conditions meet proper standards.

What makes Elite Football different from other agencies?

Elite Football focuses on real club relationships, player development, long-term support, repeated opportunities, and a team-based structure rather than a one-man transactional model.

Author: Alan Deriard
Football Agent | Elite Football
Website: https://elitefootball.com.au