Many young boys dream about becoming a footballer – but if you can’t be in that 1%, working in football is the next best thing. Having spent the last eight years at a well-established Championship club, it’s fair to say I saw it all and more. It also gave me an excellent platform to learn, as well as exposing me to the dynamics of football at a huge club with massive ambition.
Starting from the bottom and leaving after almost a decade, my first role saw me try my hand at coaching. I quickly realised it wasn’t for me and transitioned into recruitment where I held the role of ‘Head of Emerging Talent Recruitment’ across the UK and Europe. After four years, I was promoted to first-team recruitment as ‘Head of Technical Scouting’, again across the UK and Europe.
I was fortunate enough to play a role on the Board and be part of an excellent recruitment team, with that experience and insight giving me the knowledge and confidence to thrive in my next venture.
More than anything, my journey and experience at a club gave me the motivation to launch DEFY and make the jump from recruitment to representation. Over many years, I’d seen first-hand how many agents (not all of course!) behaved and acted – looking for the next ‘quick buck’ with limited market knowledge or care for their clients.
I remember one situation where a talented young football player from a lower league was set to be signed for £50,000. He agreed terms and visited the team’s training ground. However, the move then stalled when his agent then demanded a personal fee of £250,000 to “allow” the deal to proceed. After we rejected the fee, the agent called off the deal – and it collapsed! One agent’s greed had cost a young player the next step in his career – and he didn’t even have a say in it…
Situations like this can happen all too often. Ultimately, the two most important parties are the player and the club, but many agents seem to put their own interests top of the agenda.
Moving from recruiter to representative has been a refreshing change. Instead of being limited to giving information, I’m now fully involved and pivotal in the entire process from identifying talent to signing them as a client. There is clearly synergy between the roles and one key objective remains the same – aim to identify and sign the best talent in both ability and mentality.
It is the process that differs. It now doesn’t have to be too prescriptive – and there aren’t as many technical barriers or conflicting ideas when it comes to signing. There is not the mix of politics and agendas involved that you find within any club. If they’re a good player, a good character and align with our values and morals – it’s relatively straightforward to sign them if they’re currently without representation.
I set out to disrupt the archaic process. I feel athlete representation needs to be more collaborative and focused more on the Person rather than just the Player. At DEFY, we’re able to create real, meaningful relationships with athletes, families, brands, and clubs too so we can have a direct influence and a tangible impact on their career – adding value at every point on the journey.
At DEFY, we’re passionate about education and family – and we believe in forming a close-knit team to provide our clients with the best platform to unlock their full potential. We want to change the industry, and that’s exactly what we’re doing – becoming a solution to the problems we’ve identified.
My eight years within a club setting undoubtedly gave me the fuel to start DEFY – creating a new kind of talent management company that could provide an excellent service full of knowledge, experience, and transparency across multiple sports, including football, golf, and tennis.
We are DEFY, relationship-driven partners, not transactional agents.
Harry Croft – Co-Founder & CEO
