ANY PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALLER will tell you, that what they eat is just as important as what they wear or how they train. In fact, without the correct food and fluid intake, not even a Sunday League player never mind a Premier League star can perform on the pitch. As developing players that are still growing, you need to know what, when and why certain food choices can help you play better football and stay fit.

YOU MAY NOT BE a professional yet, but your body needs food to help it do virtually everything. Food is vital to performance, without the correct foods or timing of the food you eat, it is hard to reach the levels that the body can achieve. The top football players you see on television from the Premier League and the Champions League are some of the fittest athletes in sport. Hard training, top skills and a 'healthy diet' mean they can perform at the top level week in and week out.

WHENEVER YOU DO any physical activity your body produces sweat. This is simply its way of keeping everything at the right temperature. The Premier League players and professionals you see flying around pitches have to have enough liquid in their bodies before a game to cope with the fluid they will lose as they sweat. They drink before a game, at halftime and when the game has finished. This should be the same for anyone who plays football. The correct term is 'HYDRATION'.