Rangers striker Jermain Defoe Photo: VCG

"Steak and Chips." That was the answer that British footballers gave as to their favorite meal throughout the 1970s and 1970s in magazines such as Match and Shoot! These were often internationals too but often not, a point made by the title of David McVay's biography "Steak, Diana Ross: A Diary of a Football Nobody" that makes mention of both the meal and soundtrack so beloved of footballers of yore.

Things had improved to some extent by the 1990s but Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was still shocked at the diet of professional players when he arrived in the English Premier League from Japanese J-League side Nagoya Grampus Eight in the middle of the decade. The Frenchman was initially viewed with skepticism by the press and his peers but he is credited with leading the revolution in diet that the English game has undergone since his arrival.

Footballers caring about their diet has gone even further in recent years. Nutritionists are not only part of the backroom setup at many professional clubs, but players are seeking out their expertise on a personal basis in order to find an extra edge over the competition.

Nowadays many players have changed their diet to become vegetarian throughout the season or even gone full-time vegan. Argentine strikers Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero have reportedly cut out meat from their diet during the football season, with the move coming after consulting a nutritionist.

Former Scotland international Russell Martin, who played for Norwich City and Derby County, has been a vegan for four years. Now at League Two side Walsall, the defender is a player-coach at the Bescot Stadium. Although Martin made the switch for health reasons after looking into a way to manage his ulcerative colitis condition, he has since spoken about the ethical reasons for adopting a vegan diet. Spreading the word is far from unusual.  

'Greenest club'

Forest Green Rovers went vegan as a club and are the only football club in the world with the Vegan Society's trademark, which they were awarded in 2017. That extends to the players and the fans who attend games at The New Lawn stadium, where traditional pie and chips have been replaced with meals that feature no animal products. It's not going badly on the pitch, either. The club, who FIFA has called "the world's greenest football club," recently reached their highest-ever league ranking when they topped the League Two table.

They claim to have got their message across, too. "We've reached an audience of almost 2 billion people since we officially became a vegan club - getting the message about sustainable vegan food out there in a big way," they write on the club website.

Colombia international Sebastian Perez went vegan in 2017. The 26-year-old is on loan at Ecuadorian side Barcelona from Argentine giants Barcelona. He won the Copa Libertadores with Atletico Nacional before moving to the Buenos Aires side.

Perez was once on trial at English side Arsenal, even playing a friendly against Manchester City, until it became clear he could not guarantee a work permit to make the move permanent. Had he joined the Gunners he would have joined teammate Hector Bellerin in being among the vegan players at the club. The Spanish international fullback has stuck the course after a trial.   

Prolonging careers

While Perez, who turned vegan for ethical reasons, and Bellerin, who said it initially began as a way to detox before he felt the health benefits, are closer to the start of their careers than the end, several senior players have seen moving to a plant-based diet as way to prolong their playing days. Bellerin's former teammate Jack Wilshere, whose struggles with injuries saw him leave Arsenal for West Ham United, has claimed to have felt fitter since becoming vegan in 2017.

Former Spurs and England striker Jermain Defoe is perhaps the most famous player in that regard. Now playing under his former Three Lions teammate Steven Gerrard at Glasgow Rangers, Defoe is still scoring aged 37 and recently taking the record Scottish champions back to the top of the table ahead of city rivals Celtic. Defoe reportedly took his decision after watching a documentary outlining the health benefits of avoiding eating meat.

Fellow veteran pros such as Ashley Williams, who is now at Championship side Bristol City after taking Swansea City to the Premier League, have gone vegan. He did so in 2017 after watching the same Netflix documentary as Defoe.

Fabian Delph, the England international, took up a plant-based diet ahead of the 2018 World Cup while at Manchester City. His former ­international teammate Chris Smalling has been featured in a BBC documentary on turning vegan after making the switch to being fully vegan in 2018. The Manchester United defender has since moved to Italian Serie A side Roma and a book on how he became vegan, written with his wife, is set to be published later this year.  

The Russia 2018 World Cup last summer was probably the high point of vegan footballers on the top stage, at least in the men's game. It is not limited to the men's game, as Portland Thorns player and US Women's National Team player Meghan Klingenberg proves - she went vegan in 2016 - while former USWNT defender Heather Mitts has long spoken out as a vegan. In 2018, the star of the USWNT and perhaps the women's game as a whole, Alex Morgan, tweeted that she had turned to a vegan diet.

Nor is it confined to football, with stars of all sports taking up veganism. 

Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton is a vegan as are tennis champions Novak Djokovic and the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena. UFC fighter Nate Diaz and boxer David Haye are among a growing number of vegans in combat sports while the NFL's Tom Brady has spoken in favor of veganism, releasing his own vegan products. New Brooklyn Nets signing Kyrie Irving was given the title of Vegan of the Year by animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Diets are clearly changing, but there is no mention if athletes still like Diana Ross.