Land of the giants - does height and weight matter?


I've got a new data set, in it are heights and weights for a selection of players from 8 different leagues. Not every player is listed.

I had a theory that you may be able to look at the average physical size of players in each league and see if certain leagues had more players of a certain type.

I first decided to compare Premier League strikers with Eredivisie strikers. And it looked like a very promising theory as the Dutch league strikers were taller (by almost 4cm on average) but had the same average weight. This probably can probably be explained by the Dutch league having younger players who haven't "filled out" and the Dutch being a very tall nation.

I then broke down all heights/weights by position.

This may come as a shock but it turns out goalkeepers are generally taller than fullbacks.

Average height/weight by position (high-low):
Goalkeeper
Centre back
Centre Forward
Central Midfield
Fullbacks
Wingers

I was expecting there to be variation between leagues but to be honest there really wasn't any. Dutch strikers are taller, and League One players tend to be lighter than their Premier League and Championship compatriots.

The global nature of football means that if Spanish or Italian teams feel they are genetically smaller than Northern Europeans then they sign tall players from around the world to get around the issue.

But what does height and weight actually mean? Messi is a weakling compared to Zohore but I know who I'd rather have upfront.

My main issue with height/weight is that it turns out I am the same height and, slightly lighter than the average Premier League striker. Even at my footballing peak, when I combined the attributes of Matt Le Tissier and Carlton Palmer (the work rate and physicality of Le Tissier and the technical ability of Palmer) it would have been unlikely I would ever have been considered a prime physical specimen.

However, I am going to assume that all strikers nowadays are in great shape and that they won't be carrying much in the way of excess weight so that the higher the BMI (Weight/Height squared) the more "powerful" the player if they aren't carrying fat.

So I've calculated the BMI of each average player for each position in the league then added them up to get a total combined (1 player for each position, I realise an XI would show this better but I've already done the graph now!)


The results look right to me.

The Bundesliga is the most powerful league, by a fairly significant margin. Having watched a lot of the league over the last month I agree. Far fewer small players than other European leagues.

Then the Premier League and Ligue 1 joint in second. Both physical leagues but with a lot of smaller players in wide positions.

League One the physically weakest of the leagues. I suppose the old stereotype would be that lower league teams would be a physical test for higher sides. I don't think that is true anymore. Quick, powerful players are in demand from higher up.

However, I think the most important finding is that other than Goalkeeper and Centre back you can pretty much be any height and, as long as physically very fit, any weight and have a chance of a career. There is far more variation within leagues than between leagues with 40cm and 51kg variation between active players.

So why do you need tall centre backs? If you are facing Liverpool or Man City would you not be better with pace and mobility? When I watch Salah and Mane sweeping past lumbering totem-pole sized defenders it does cross my mind.

Game theory can probably explain a bit of why we have tall defenders. If you often face tall strikers you need tall defenders. If you fielded a short defense you would face a lot of aerial attacks. Ah, but what if the other team played short strikers then you would be fine. Nope, set pieces, basically if the other team is fielding tall players you need to do that too otherwise you cede a huge advantage. You can only get away with a team of very short players if you are brilliant (and monopolise possession) and even Barcelona had Pique and Puyol at centre back.

Thus almost all defenders are tall. But when they face strikers who can vary from Insigne to Lukaku they need to be tall and strong and sufficiently fast to keep up and mobile enough to not be easily dribbled past. Thus centre backs at the elite level tend to be physical monsters, fast and tall. Just one of those isn't enough. Lower down in League One you can get tall but slow players or slightly undersized but fast players.

So we haven't really learned anything we didn't know! But it took me hours so I'm writing it up anyway.....

Height / Weight of average player in each position

Goalkeepers
Premier League: 191cm/84kg (range 184-199cm and 76-101kg)
Championship: 190cm/83kg (range 180-203cm and 72-96kg)
League One: 187cm/80kg (range 179-203cm and 63kg-102kg)
Bundesliga: 192cm/88kg (range 183-198cm and 79-99kg)
Ligue 1: 189cm/ 84kg (range 184cm-198cm and 75-95kg)
Serie A: 191cm/84kg (range 183-196cm and 70-93kg)
La Liga: 189cm/83kg (range 179-199cm and 70-96kg)
Eridivisie 190cm/86kg (range 181-202cm and 76-100kg)

Fullbacks

Premier League: 179cm/73kg (range 172-190cm and 60-90kg)
Championship: 182cm/74kg (range 168-196cm and 67-82kg)
League One: 180cm/73kg (range 167-196cm and 62kg-94kg)
Bundesliga: 181cm/76kg (range 171-189cm and 65-85kg)
Ligue 1: 178cm and 72kg (range 168-190cm and 61-82kg)
Serie A: 182cm/76kg (range 173-195cm and 64-94kg)
La Liga: 178cm/72kg (range 170-189cm and 60-81kg)
Eridivisie 179cm/72kg (range 169-191cm and 60-81kg)

Centrebacks

Premier League: 188cm/82kg (range 178-199cm and 67-101kg)
Championship: 188cm/80kg (range 176-194cm and 70-92kg)
League One: 187cm/78kg (range 178-196cm and 68kg-91kg)
Bundesliga: 188cm/83kg (range 175-196cm and 69-97kg)
Ligue 1: 186cm and 79kg (range 170cm-190cm and 60-90kg)
Serie A: 187cm/80kg (range 180-196cm and 70-90kg)
La Liga: 186cm/79kg (range 178-196cm and 68-93kg)
Eridivisie 187cm/79kg (range 178-194cm and 67-92kg)

Midfielders

Premier League: 181cm/75kg (range 165-194cm and 61-95kg)
Championship: 180cm/74kg (range 169-191cm and 61-90kg)
League One: 178cm/72kg (range 168-191cm and 60-85kg)
Bundesliga: 182cm/76kg (range 170-192cm and 63-91kg)
Ligue 1: 181cm/73kg (range 165-193cm and 58-88kg)
Serie A: 182cm/74kg (range 168-191cm and 62-90kg)
La Liga: 179cm/73kg (range 165-191cm and 60-91kg)
Eridivisie: 180cm/73kg (range 168-194cm and 61-90kg)


Wingers

Premier League: 177cm/72kg (range 164-188cm and 60-88kg)
Championship: 179cm/72kg (range 165-190cm and 60-87kg)
League One: 179cm/72kg (range 168-191cm and 60-86kg)
Bundesliga: 179cm/74kg (range 172-193cm 65-87kg)
Ligue 1: 177cm/73kg (range 165-190cm and 50-90kg)
Serie A: 179cm/73kg (range 165-187cm and 60-83kg)
La Liga: 177cm/71kg (range 167-190cm 61-84kg)
Eridivisie: 178cm/72kg (168-189cm and 62-86kg)


Strikers

Premier League: 183cm/79kg (range 170-192cm and 66-98kg)
Championship: 183cm/77kg (range 170-198cm and 64-91kg)
League One: 182cm/75kg (range 173-196cm and 60-100kg)
Bundesliga: 180cm/79kg (range 175-197cm and 66-90kg)
Ligue 1: 183cm/79kg (range 176-197cm and 66-90kg)
Serie A: 182cm/76kg (range 163-193cm and 59-89kg)
La Liga: 182cm/77kg (range 170-191cm and 66-93kg)
Eridivisie: 186cm/79kg (range 174-193cm and 69-89kg)




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