Middlesbrough spent the most of any club last year

Football League clubs increased their payments to agents by £3.9m in the past year to a total of more than £12.7m.

The bulk of the outlay came from Championship clubs who paid out over £10.1m, while £2.2m came from League One and £366,000 from League Two.

Of a total 2,392 transactions between 1 July 2009 and 30 June 2010, an agent was paid 396 times.

The League has been publishing the figures since September 2003 as part of their bid for transparency.

Of the 72 clubs, 14 did not pay anything to agents, while a further 23 clubs paid less than £10,000.

Given the current economic climate, it is worrying to see such a significant amount leaking from the game Greg Clarke - Football League chairman

Middlesbrough spent the most on agents' fees, with £1,464,200 being paid out as a result of 29 transactions. Newcastle, now back in the Premier League, were the only other club to spend seven figures, with the St James' Park outfit paying £1,073,076 over 39 transactions.

Southampton (£401,248) spent the most in League One, while Notts County (£246,483) accounted for over two-thirds of the money spent by League Two clubs.

New Football League chairman Greg Clarke has expressed concern at the increase and has urged clubs to cut their cloth accordingly over the coming 12 months.

"Given the current economic climate, it is worrying to see such a significant amount leaking from the game," said Clarke.

"This year's figures demonstrate a considerable increase on those of last season and it is essential that clubs work to reduce this liability over the coming campaign."

The 14 clubs not to pay anything to agents were Accrington, Barnet, Bournemouth, Chesterfield, Crewe, Dagenham, Darlington, Exeter, Hereford, Lincoln, Macclesfield, Port Vale, Stockport and Tranmere.

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