Shelton Spier made a striking decision earlier this summer. The former wing defender of Watford, among others, decided to end his professional career at the age of 24, to continue as an agent and to set up a football academy together with three partners. As an agent, Spier tries to guide players in a way that he has not always been guided during his own active career.
By Chris Meijer
Muscle may only be 24 years old, but he already has a whole life behind him in football. He played as a youth for Almere City, DWS and the Belgian KV Turnhout, before crossing over to England at the age of 17 to play for Watford. After two years, he started a journey through all corners of Europe: he played for SV Honnepel-Niedermormter in Germany, had to flee from the mafia in Greece, completed an internship at the Welsh Connah’s Quay Nomads, played in Georgia for FC Gagra and returned. Crawley Town shortly back in England. He saved the phone number or email address of everyone he met during this trip. “From clubs, technical directors or agents who have made contact. You know how it goes as a football player: I don’t know how, but everyone gets your number or your email address. I have a phone with all contacts in it, I will never get rid of it.”
Even when Spier was still playing in England as a teenager, he regularly received phone calls or messages. Didn’t he happen to be able to arrange something in England? And how could he have made the move to Watford? “Then I did it purely to help guys who would also help me in the same situation. I have always helped guys behind the scenes with nice transfers. But then I still felt like a footballer, you can’t do both. Usually when you do two things at the same time, you never get the most out of it and that is important,” explains Spier. Earlier this summer he made the decision: he put an end to his still early career and decided to focus fully on a job as an agent from now on. “At some point I want to play football at a slightly lower level again, but my focus is on my social career.”
Together with Shaquille Prijor, Fahd Aktaou and Ismail Hussein, Spier set up an academy where, in their view, talented players can train four times a week and also play in competition. Prijor (played for, among others, Almere City and Roda JC and in Belgium, Portugal and Georgia) and Aktaou (played for, among others, sc Heerenveen, Almere City, FC Dordrecht and Heracles Almelo and in Morocco, Italy and Bulgaria) work as trainers, while Hussein (played in Cyprus and England) acts as a scout and supplies interesting players from his network. The big difference between Spier and his associates: they have not yet put an end to their active career. Spier hopes to be able to ‘bring them away’ this summer, as he calls it.
Through his own rich experiences, Spier knows how important an agent can be. When Spier, as he calls it himself, at Watford’s prime sat, the advisers lined up to work with him. “But when it went down, there was no one to look back at me. That touches me a bit, I know what it’s like. Agents prefer to work with someone who is at a club, because that’s easier. For me, it’s not about making the most money,” says Spier. He spoons up an anecdote about a deal with a Swedish second-tier club that required him to work with an English agent. “He asked if we would get a commission. The club had no money for that. Then that agent didn’t do it, because he didn’t find it interesting.”
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“Then you don’t care about your player, but only about the commission. You’re taking away a boy’s chance to make money on his own. Are you doing this work for yourself or to develop players? I just like giving those guys a chance. Then they can do it well and you still earn a few years later. But they only look at the short term. I think that’s a shame,” he continues audibly indignant. “Most agents can only guide guys who are already there. But everyone can. Clubs will get your number, it’s not that difficult. You must be able to help the boys who have been forgotten. Then you are a good agent. I know a lot of guys who were struggling for a while, who became clubless and for whom agents could no longer do anything. Then I think: isn’t that what you are an agent for? Business observers talk a lot and do little. ‘Your resume is not good, you played little football last year’, you are then told. But I can do that, as someone who just stopped playing football.”
“Take Geronimo Comvalius”, says Spier to reinforce his argument. “A very good player, but he has never played for a professional club. Although he did have the qualities for it. He never had the right guidance. I helped him, arranged an internship with Nocerina in Serie D and now he is finally going to Spain.” Spier arranged employment at Atlético Benidorm for Comvalius, Hussein and Jairo Fernandez. Juraichel Ritfeld, Kalleb Mambo and Quentin van Veenendaal made a switch to Postojna in Slovenia via the brand new agent. In women’s football it has already been possible to complete three transfers, because Indy Spaan, Hajar Tahiri and Rachel van Netten continue their careers at UMF Afturelding in Iceland. Finally, former Ajax and FC Utrecht youth player Mounir Mounji went to the Austrian SK Bischofshofen.
“Mounir was a great talent at FC Utrecht, but due to certain factors it did not go as it should. He went to the Royal HFC, lost the fun in football there and then played in the third division at Olympia Haarlem for fun. That’s pretty low, if you still have it in your head to make it to professional football. But yes, those are guys I know from my childhood myself. I know those guys can become good footballers if they get the right guidance and the time. Clubs keep coming that call or text that they are looking for a player in a certain position.” In his own words, Spier does not distinguish between players from professional or amateur football. For example, he also supervises Badr Oulad Abdellah, a great talent from KV Mechelen who recently completed internships at Torino, Perugia and Monza in Italy. “I have guys who play football at different levels. One plays at the highest level in Belgium and can go directly to a large club, the other is still with the amateurs. I don’t discriminate if I believe in the player, for me everyone is equal. The boy who is less interesting now may just be much more interesting in two years. That’s football. And maybe he won’t make it to professional football, but to the Second or Third Division. That is also very beautiful.”
“I actually like to help these kind of guys, because I know that when they get a chance they can play in the top of the Kitchen Champion Division or bottom of the Eredivisie. It’s a shame if guys like that aren’t helped. I have a soft spot for some guys because they’ve been stopped by certain people from getting where they can,” Spier continues. “I’m not saying it’s easy to take boys out of amateur football. Certainly not. I do invest time in it, by personally visiting clubs and telling them about the player. Then a club takes you more seriously, because they know that I will fly all the way there.”
Spier explains that he does not sign players directly, but initially only wants a mandate to be able to negotiate with clubs. “Because I am so loyal to the boys and they see how I work, they often still sign with me when they have found a club. That is an appreciation, then it comes from both sides. I don’t see the need to sign boys for two years, which means there is a possibility that he will remain clubless for two years. Because a contract with me immediately makes them less interesting for other parties. I don’t promise anyone anything. That’s why I don’t have guys behind my back saying, ‘You said I was going there!’”
Applications have been pouring in at the academy lately and Spier is still trying to help everyone he sees in it for the time being. “We have a regular group, but new guys are always added. Everyone should get a fair chance, so I often let the new guys start in the competitions as well. I don’t care if we lose those matches, because I want to see what those guys can do,” emphasizes Spier. How does he foresee the future of the academy and as an agent? “I can do the same on a higher platform with guys who are going to play in Ajax’s first. That’s my goal, to help those kinds of guys in their careers. Every player has their own career and I want to get the most out of everyone I coach. That I can give the trigger to get the most out of oneself.”