For richer or poorer...

THE disparity between Athletic and midweek opponents Leeds United is perfectly illustrated by the fees paid out by the respective clubs to player agents over the past year.

The figure of £35,600 paid out by Latics between October 1, 2008, and September 30, 2009, is completely dwarfed by the massive £415,170 shelled out by the West Yorkshire club during the same period.

And, in a further indication of the difference between the haves and have-nots of Coca-Cola League One, the Leeds figure isn't even the biggest total in the division.

That dubious honour belongs to Charlton Athletic, who spent £525,488 on player agents in the space of the same 12 months.

That is more than the £468,398 spent by Burnley on their successful quest for Premier League status, but still far less than big-spending Manchester City.

The Eastlands outfit shelled out £12.875million of a Premier League total of £70.69m.

Athletic's own total indicates a relatively heavy recent spend on agent fees.

Figures released in August of this year revealed that Athletic spent nothing between January 2009 and the end of June, and only £4,500 in the six months before that.

Those figures mean that at least £31,100 of the yearly figure has been spent on agents by Athletic between the start of July 2009 and the end of September.