BURNLEY'S financial plight was again highlighted yesterday in a new Football League report that shows the Clarets have paid just £12,000 in agents fees between January 1 and June 30, 2003.

A total of eight transactions - including three loan signings, one cancelled contract and four new registrations - added up to mere fraction of Division One's grand total of £1,131,189.

And compared with a whopping £279,000 spent on agents fees by fellow strugglers Derby County, and £243,500 also paid to agents by fallen giants West Ham United, the paltry sum offers further proof that Burnley are finding times increasingly hard.

Burnley chief executive Dave Edmundson said: "Agents are a fact of life in football and, as such, we have to look at that objectively.

"But there is no way we will be held to ransom when it comes to signing players. One a particular player is targeted you should not have to expect to pay a huge amount to a third person whose involvement in the deal often involves little more than a few telephone calls and meetings.

"There are certain agents who have an excellent reputation and will always rise to the top and I prefer to call those people 'advisors', or 'lifestyle managers'.

"But it is a cut-throat business and this report offers more evidence that, if a player is employing an agent, then any fee should be agreed between those two parties, not come out of the funds of any club involved."

The official report offers wider evidence that for many agents striking deals outside the Premiership, the gravy train is now pulling out of the station following years of raking in the cash.

Ten First Division teams spent less than Burnley in the interim period, with six - Crewe Alexandra, Crystal Palace, Preston North End, Sunderland, Watford and Wimbledon - not spending a single penny.

In a total of 963 player transactions throughout the Football League, only 12 per cent were secured with the help of players representatives.

Last season's Division One clubs accounted for 80 per cent of of all monies paid to agents, with Division Two sides making up 17 per cent and Division Three just 3 per cent.

In all, thirty four of the league's 72 members did not pay any money at all to agents during the period under review.