No one food contains all the nutrients we need. Therefore, it is important that a wide variety of foods are consumed. A footballer could have the best skills in the world but without the correct nutritional support the player will not be able to sustain a hard training programme over a long period of time, and improvement will therefore be limited.

Good nutritional practices are also necessary to ensure optimum performance in competition, and changes in the diet can lead to substantial improvements in performance. The difference between winning and losing is small, and, where other things are equal, attention to diet can be the difference between the team at the top of the league and the others.

This section of the handbook will provide some guidelines to help you, the player, make sure that you can take full advantage of your skills throughout a game and avoid running out of fuel and getting tired. How you perform during a match and training will depend on what you eat and drink BEFORE, DURING and AFTER each game or session. By eating and drinking the right foods and fluids your performance and, collectively, the team's performance will IMPROVE.

Nutrients and Foods

It is important that the components of nutrition are known. These are mainly: carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, fibre and water. The food and drink that we consume contain a variety of these nutrients, and it is essential that the right balance is achieved on a daily basis in order to optimise performance.

Figure1 below demonstrates the types of foods we should eat for a healthy diet and the proportions we should eat them in.