The diet of a Premier League footballer has been broken down (2024)

There are many things that happen behind the scenes in the life of a professional football player that the average person will not take into account, one being their diet. Compared to fans, footballers are forced to stick to a strict regime when it comes to what they are allowed to digest on a weekly basis, with all clubs carefully tailoring their food on offer to match the needs and intensity of the beautiful game.

Despite the copious amounts of money they receive, footballers – in the Premier League, in particular - have quite a strict and hard lifestyle that often separate the greats from those who often fail to make it to the very top. It’s part and parcel of being a footballer - it's even got to the point where one Brazilian footballer tried to copy the dietary regime of Cristiano Ronaldo and miserably failed.

Having to train most of the week, while also trying and stay off smoking and alcohol and stick to a strict diet to make sure they maintain the fitness and physicality of a world-class athlete is a tough task - but to make it to the top of the game, it is often a necessity. The diet of a footballer over the course of a typical day is very interesting, and some may be surprised by the amount they eat – but remember, training once a day – and sometimes even twice – means that replenishing their calories is, perhaps, just as key as burning them!

Experienced sports scientist Amando Vinci, who worked under Mauricio Pochettino, once waxed lyrical about the importance of a player’s nutrition, claiming that it has an effect on a lot of facets, including quality of sleep and on-field traits.

With all that said, let’s take a look at the ‘traditional’ diet of a Premier League footballer, what food groups are rife, what a day-to-day eating regime looks like and how many calories they take on board on a day-to-day basis.

Varies from player to player

Of course, the diet won't be the exact same for every footballer in the Premier League. However, we can somewhat see the generic diet style pattern thanks to some research and also videos on Premier League diets from Crystal Palace, Brentford and Liverpool.

Footballers will have their three meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and these meals have to consist of specific foods, with each item eaten for a specific reason. Soccer Supplements has broken down - in plenty of detail - the food that is in a Premier League players' diet; protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins and minerals, hydration and supplements.

Players will try to have a very balanced diet and one with lots of fruit and vegetables, while their source of protein is crucial in order to build and repair muscles after their day-to-day tasks, which are often relatively strenuous. Alongside this, they need lots of whole grains like pasta and brown rice. Players will, as mentioned, have three meals a day, and these meals are packed with all we have mentioned.

To aid the process, training grounds and academies both have separate nutritionists on hand, and they have regular meetings to plan what to give to players, while morning briefings are also commonplace, as the teams - often consisting of a handful of people - behind the meals have to cater depending on what is happening on that day, whether that be training, resting or even playing.

Liverpool, for example, put out a video in May 2023 where Head of Nutrition, Mona Nemmer, delved into how the menu is designed around the players' training routines. Breakfast largely consisted of oats and porridge, lunch would typically consist of further carbohydrates like pasta, while red meats are moderated. A particular favourite at the Reds' training ground was fish, and salmon specifically.

Sample meals that Premier League footballers eat

Brentford have provided brilliant insight

Per a video from Brentford, the chefs on hand claimed that players are able to request to have food made specially for them, with one of them explaining that their job is to cook meals that are ‘healthier versions’ of what they would typically have at home.

With all that said, there is often a set-menu that players can opt to have on the basis that some may prefer to enjoy a routine series of meals. Examples given by the Bees were lean lamb fillets, with grilled tiger prawns and parsley in order to ensure their meat quotas are filled throughout the day.

The chef also used fresh tuna steak as another meat that is available for players to choose, alongside a freshly made pineapple sauce. Jamabalya with tiger prawns is also on the menu, while tacos – with either chicken or beef as the filling – are popular among the Brentford players, too.

Of course, from club-to-club and player-to-player, their day-to-day food choices are bound to vary for an array of reasons, with some players like Hector Bellerin living a vegan lifestyle. But the common consensus is that sides across the Premier League – and beyond – are not as strict in terms of what variance of meal that the players eat. They instead have a more streamlined focus on what types of food and how much of each type, alongside their supplements, that they are taking in.

Premier Football have revealed a typical meal plan for footballers, listing sample meals for a footballer throughout the day. Fruit salads, porridge, toast and yoghurt are listed as typical meals for breakfast, while lunch and dinner will involve a mixture of meats such as chicken or tuna along with carbohydrates to replenish energy. You can check out a full breakdown below:

Breakfast

• A Fruit Piece
• Porridge or a Bowl of Oatmeal (Sweetened with Honey or Dried Fruit)
• Four Slices of Wholemeal Bread with Jam or Spread of Olive Oil
• Fresh Juice (Fruit)
• Yoghurt
• Two-three Cookies

Lunch

• Grilled Chicken or Tuna
• Bagels, baguettes, and other similar breeds
• Salad with a sauce of olive oil and lemon juice
• Low Fat Milk or Fresh Juice
• Bran Muffin or Low Fat
• Bananas
• A packet of mixed nuts and raisins

Dinner

• Serving of Pasta or Rice
• Tomato Sauce
• Lean Beef Mince, Chicken, or Grilled Fish
• Vegetables
• Ice Cream and Strawberries

Supplements taken to complement regular food intake

In the video from Crystal Palace, they revealed a weekly plan that players need to have alongside their meals. The day after a matchday, dedicated to resting and recuperating for their next outing, the players are still taking on nutritional supplements such as protein shakes and cherry actives.

Throughout the week, more supplements are taken on board to resume normal service, while protein shakes are often consumed – whatever the flavour – alongside Omega-3 in windows before and after exercise, whether that be in the form of a game, gym work or a routine training session.

In the lead up to a game, there is an evident increase in carbohydrate intake – in addition to their usual meals - as they look to increase the energy levels of their players. The key to optimal football importance, however, comes down to their nutritional intake on the day of a match, both beforehand and following. Three hours before kick-off, a carbohydrate-rich meal, typically accompanied by chicken or salmon, is consumed, while any red meat is firmly off the cards.

After a long week of strict eating, footballers are treated to a post-match meal that is often out of the usual realms; for example, a burger and chips. Though, of course, this will be chop and change based on personal preference. As you can see (barring their post-match treat), footballers have a very strict diet and if they don't listen to the nutritional staff, they won't play as well as they could. You can see the weekly plan detailed in the video above below:

• Day off after matchday: Nutritional supplements (protein shakes and cherry actives)
• Monday: Supplements, Omega 3, protein shakes
• Tuesday/Wednesday: More carbohydrates, protein
• Thursday/Friday: Lots of carbohydrates alongside their meals
• Matchday: Rich carbohydrate meal (three hours before kick-off). No red meat, mainly have chicken and salmon. Treat meal (post-match), e.g: burger and chips.

Many may prematurely assume that footballers' diets do not contain many calories thanks to the traditional build of stars from the depths to the heights of the English top tier, though it is crazy to learn how much Premier League stars consume on a daily basis. When you look at the average footballer in the top division, they have a calorie intake of a whopping 3789 kcal (calories) on matchday and 2956 kcal on training days. While it might seem like a small detail, these fine margins can give top-level stars an edge when it matters most.