Here’s a fact: young footballers can have all the skills in the world but without the proper nutritional support, they won’t be as fit as they could be and their performances will suffer.

Here’s a fact: young footballers can have all the skills in the world but without the proper nutritional support, they won’t be as fit as they could be and their performances will suffer.

They won’t be able to train as hard or as long, so won’t improve their play, and during games run the risk of getting tired.

How they perform during games and training depends on what they eat and drink before, during and after each match or session. If they eat and drink the right stuff, they will improve. Follow our advice and they’ll be a bundle of energy out on the pitch!

First off, let’s look at the essential nutrients young footballers need to be eating, and the foods they’re found in.

Nutrient found in

Footballers need increased energy to gain that extra edge, and that’s most commonly found in carbohydrate. Now, in a healthy diet, 55-60% of it should come from carbohydrate, but for footballers, it’s even higher - as much as 70%!

Of course, players need other nutrients too and it’s not easy to get the perfect intake of carbohydrate from eating a regular three meals a day. The way to do it is by snacking - snacks play a crucial role in a player’s diet, especially if eaten immediately after training or a match. That’s when the energy stores in the muscles which have just been working are best refuelled.

Snack Attack! These snacks are high in carbohydrate but low in fat

• Banana, jam or honey sandwiches
• Muesli bars or sweetened popcorn
• Fruit cake, currant buns, scones, American muffins
• Crumpets, bagels, English muffins, scotch pancakes
• Pop Tarts, rusks and cereal
• Jelly cubes
• Jaffa cakes, wine gums, jelly babies
• Low fat rice pudding, bread pudding
• Yoghurts and milkshakes
• Fruit and dried fruit

Footballers Diet

Like most sportsman, footballers have to keep a strict diet to ensure they are at their peak of physical fitness. Long gone are the days where you would see players down the local pub having a meat pie and a couple of pints the night before a game - we are in a totally new era where every advantage counts.

Eat right

First and foremost eating right is key to achieving physical fitness. You can't eat too much because you'll put on weight, but you also can't eat too little as you won't have the energy needed for training and matches. Also you have to make sure what you are putting into your body is the right stuff. Lots of chocolate sounds great but it isn't what'll give you that extra yard of pace on a Saturday.

Carbs

This is the first port of call for people wanting to get fit and prepare for sporting glory. Cabrohydrates help your muscles recover after exercise, which is of vital importance not only in keeping you healthy, but in giving you the ability to exercise harder and for longer. You need to eat plenty of high glycemic foods which are the best for muscle recovery.

Foods such as bread, pasta, rice, baked potatos are rich in the type of carbs that you want to be eating meal wise after exercise. Straight after a work-out, training session or match you need something quick, and foods such as jaffa cakes, muffins and bananas will give you that quick boost. Isotonic drinks such as Lucozade Sport are superior to straight water as it gets straight to the part of the body that needs it and will re-hydrate the system faster.

Protein

Protein is also helpful in a balanced diet. Protein can be converted to fat and stored like carbohydrates. Good sources of protein are dairy products such as milk, yoghurt and meats and poultry.

Drink

Without a doubt one of the huge steps forward in recent years has been the introduction of isotonic sports drinks. The science behind it is that when sodium is absorbed into the blood - it takes water with it which replaces the salt that has left the system through sweat. That is the real plus point of isotonic drinks over water.

Electrolytes are in essence the salts that are lost through sweating. These are found in isotonic drinks and getting them into the system will aid the digestion and osmosis of fluid coming into the body and the muscles. This is important as it'll help the muscles recover quicker and should keep dehydration away.

The energy within these drinks comes in the form of glucose. Drinking this during training will help your muscles work for longer and drinking it afterwards will help speed up the recovery process of your muscles.

A Full Weeks Diet

Here is a rough idea of the type of diet you should be having to get and then keep you in peak physical shape (not withstanding an exercise and training regime):

Breakfasts should concentrate on cereals, preferably branflakes, shredded wheat and the likes. Bagels are also good as are muffins, preferably bran or wild blueberry.

Lunches of the likes of baked potatoes with beans or tuna are excellent. Sandwiches are a good source of all the food groups as long as they aren't smothered in butter and have a healthy filling, for example fresh chicken salad.

Dinners should concentrate on being the main meal of the day. Chicken, pasta, rice, lean meats with a baked or new potatoes and green vegetables would round off a healthy and carbohydrate filled diet.

Snacks of chocolate are appropriate during exercise for a fast energy boost but eating these types of foods when not exercising will lead to it being stored as fats instead of being used to help the body immediately.

Drinks throughout the day should consist of fruit juices, isotonic drinks and waters.

A Healthy Diet

Because playing football is a physically demanding activity, it is essential that you eat a healthy, balanced diet at all times. This will help you get the best results out of both your practice and your actual matches by preventing injury and keeping energy levels high. Where matches are concerned, there are a number of things to pay particular attention to, and the best thing to do is take advice from professional footballers themselves. Gone are the days when they would eat heart English breakfasts before a match - now a footballer's diet is a strict one.

For example, Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, is notorious for his scientific approach to the diets of his team. He argues that it is inadvisable for any footballer to have a high intake of junk food, sugar and dairy products. Most important, he says, are foods like vegetables, chicken and fish. There are also other things you might like to try to boost your gameplay such as eating potatoes on the day of the match (a recommendation from scientists in France). Apparently potatoes are brilliant for footballers as they contain substances called glucides, which deliver a steady flow of energy to the muscles.

Also, it may be obvious but many people forget that one of the simplest and best things you can do to improve your gameplay is to drink plenty of water. Apparently due to all that strenuous exercise footballers can lose up to seven pints of fluid during a match. Dehydration is hence one of the main problems which can have a negative effect on your performance.

Finally, remember that whilst a post-match pint or two in celebration is tempting and even traditional, it is a very bad idea as it makes your body less likely to recover from injury and also makes slows down the rehydration process.