You need to upgrade your Flash Player
Have you ever wondered what it takes to be a professional football player in terms of body characteristics? What is the average age, height, body mass and bmi of soccer players? The following stats come from a sample of fourteen Greek Super League clubs. We excluded all players that have not appeared yet, at least at half of the matches played. The graph above shows the average values by playing position. Results in detail (mean and standard deviation) were the following:
GSL players (sample n=162):
Goalkeepers:
Age (y): 29.39, sd: 5.02
Age (y): 29.39, sd: 5.02
Height (cm): 189.7, sd: 0.05
Mass (kg): 83.12, sd: 4.74
BMI: 23.10, sd: 0.96
Central defenders:
Age (y):: 29.13, sd: 4.15
Age (y):: 29.13, sd: 4.15
Height (cm): 187.4, sd: 0.03
Mass (kg): 81.38, sd: 3.95
BMI: 23.16, sd: 0.89
Wing backs:
Age (y): 28.02, sd: 4.12
Age (y): 28.02, sd: 4.12
Height (cm): 180.3, sd: 0.05
Mass (kg): 73.52, sd: 4.52
BMI: 22.63, sd: 1.11
Central midfielders:
Age (y): 28.59, sd: 3.92
Age (y): 28.59, sd: 3.92
Height (cm): 179.9, sd: 0.06
Mass (kg): 75.13, sd: 5.49
BMI: 23.21, sd: 1.14
Wing forwards:
Age (y): 27.41, sd: 3.37
Age (y): 27.41, sd: 3.37
Height (cm): 175.2, sd: 0.06
Mass (kg): 70.41, sd: 5.38
BMI: 22.93, sd: 1.21
Strikers:
Age (y): 27.68, sd: 4.32
Age (y): 27.68, sd: 4.32
Height (m): 187.1, sd: 0.04
Mass (kg): 80.81, sd: 5.45
BMI: 23.07, sd: 1.24
Results show that goalkeepers are older, taller and heavier than any other group of players and wing forwards the youngest, shortest and slimmest. The biggest standard deviation was found in the body mass of midfielders and strikers and that can be explained by the inclusion of both defensive (Kumordzi) and attacking (Ibagaza) midfielders in the first group and the inclusion of heavy (Iacob) and light (Athanasiadis) strikers in the second. Positive correlation was found between body mass and height with a p value of .759. Similar results can be found in anthropometric studies of soccer players of other leagues.
The average football player in Greece has the following anthropometrics:
![]() |
| The average GSL player |
Height (cm): 181.7, sd: 0.01
Mass (kg): 75.91 sd: 1.00
BMI: 22.96, sd: 0.19
References:
official websites of clubs (see the list here), superleaguegreece.net, uefa.com, onsports.gr/onstats, transfermarkt.de, imscouting.com, whoscored.com

Please tell me the same thing about the average football player in Sweden! :P
ReplyDelete