All 20 Premier League teams have been ranked by height, and the results are quite interesting.





Height can be both a positive and a negative trait in the beautiful game. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi have both long been considered two of the finest players in the game, with one standing almost a foot taller than the other.

Some teams are renowned for their height or lack of. The great Barcelona team of recent years has featured few players in excess of 5 feet and 9 inches tall, with even centre-back Javier Mascherano coming in under that figure.

On the other end of the spectrum, Stoke City’s team over a similar period were well-known for having a number of sizeable players making them a real threat when it came to aerial balls.

Jonas Olsson helps make West Brom the tallest side in the Premier League

The ranking factors only players who have featured for each team in the first two game weeks of this Premier League season. The 20 Premier League teams, in order of tallest to shortest on average, are listed below:

1. West Bromwich Albion (185.5 cm / 6’1″)

The Baggies are the tallest team in the Premier League this season. Led by Tony Pulis, this result won’t surprise many, with the former Stoke boss well-known for favouring a direct style of play over a possession-based approach.

West Brom have a number of notably tall players, including the likes of Jonas Olsson, Gareth McAuley and even forward Salomon Rondon.

2. Crystal Palace (185.1 cm / 6’0″)

Second only to West Brom are Pulis’ former club Crystal Palace, who have height right across the park, with the likes of Scott Dann and James Tomkins in defence and Connor Wickham up front. Palace could rise further up the rankings having just brought in another big player in the form of Christian Benteke.

3. Middlesbrough (183.4 cm / 6’0″)

Middlesbrough’s Daniel Ayala stands at 6’3″

Similarly to Crystal Palace, Middlesbrough have height throughout their team, with the likes of George Friend, Daniel Ayala, Ben Gibson, Alvaro Negredo, Cristhian Stuani and even Gaston Ramirez all standing at either 6 foot or more.

4. Manchester United (183.2 cm / 6’0″)

The fourth tallest team in the division is Manchester United, in no small part down to Jose Mourinho’s recruitment this summer. Now key men Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba and Eric Bailly are 6’5″, 6’3″ and 6’2″ each, joining the likes of David de Gea, Chris Smalling and Marouane Fellaini, all of whom are 6’4″ tall.

5. Watford (183.2 cm / 6’0″)

Watford have exactly the same average height as Manchester United thanks to the likes of Etienne Capoue and Allan Nyom. The Hornets will most likely move ahead of Manchester United once Younes Kaboul (6’4″) and Daryl Janmaat (6’1″) make their debuts.

6. Tottenham (182.9 cm / 6’0″)

Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen is 6’2″

The last of the Premier League teams with an average of 6 foot or higher is Tottenham. Spurs have two big Belgians at the back, some tall midfielders such as Wanyama, Dier, Alli and Dembele and even a relatively tall striker in the form of Harry Kane.

7. West Ham United (182.7 cm / 5’11”)

The Hammers come in at seventh on this list, the same position in which they finished last season. West Ham have a good balance of tall and short players, with the likes of Winston Reid, James Collins, Cheikhou Kouyate and Andy Carroll injecting some serious height.

8. Hull City (182.5 cm / 5’11”)

Premier League new boys Hull City are quite mid-table on this list, although that would probably be different if they hadn’t made Shaun Maloney (5’7″) their first substitute of the season in their last game away at Swansea City.

Curtis Davies, Jake Livermore and Tom Huddlestone are all tall players in the Hull team, and when Harry Maguire and Michael Dawson return to the side Hull will have one of the tallest sides in the league.

9. Stoke City (181.8 cm / 5’11”)

Stoke’s Ryan Shawcross is a real threat in the air

Like West Ham, there is real blend of tall and short players in the Stoke City team, but to an even greater extent. Ryan Shawcross, Marko Arnautovic, Philipp Wollscheid and Peter Crouch are all very tall, whilst Xherdan Shaqiri, Bojan and Joe Allen are noticeably short.

10. Sunderland (181.5 cm / 5’11”)

Narrowly behind Stoke are David Moyes’ Sunderland team. The Black Cats tallest players are new signing Papy Djilobodji and Jan Kirchhoff, whilst their shortest are Jermain Defoe and Steven Pienaar.

11. Chelsea (181.5 cm / 5’11”)

Chelsea have the exact same average height as strugglers Sunderland. The Blues have a plethora of short players but their overall height is bumped up by the likes of Thibaut Courtois, Gary Cahill, John Terry, Nemanja Matic and Diego Costa.

12. Southampton (181.4 cm / 5’11”)

Fraser Forster is a giant in goal for Southampton

The Saints are in the bottom half in terms of height despite their goalkeeper Fraser Forster standing at a whopping 6’7″. Southampton have some other tall players like Maya Yoshida and Virgil van Dijk, but also plenty of shorter players like Nathan Redmond and Jordy Clasie.

13. Everton (181.3 cm / 5’11”)

From Ronald Koeman’s old club to his new one, there is little to separate Southampton and Everton in terms of height. The Toffees’ big lads Maarten Stekelenburg, Ashley Williams and Romelu Lukaku are cancelled out by the likes of Aaron Lennon, Leighton Baines and Idrissa Gueye.

14. Swansea (181.3 cm / 5’11”)

Joint with Everton and the last of the 5’11” teams, Swansea have a taller attack and shorter defence than most teams. Up front Fernando Llorente stands at 6’5″ and soon to be joined by record signing Borja Baston (6’3″), but it is on the wings where the Swans are particularly short, most notably Nathan Dyer (5’5″) and Jefferson Montero (5’7″).

15. Liverpool (180.2 cm / 5’10”)

Philippe Coutinho is one of a number of short Liverpool players

With quite a drop off from Swansea, in 15th place is Liverpool. The Reds have the likes of Clyne, Wijnaldum, Milner, Coutinho, Firmino, Henderson, Moreno, Mane and Lallana, who – whilst not necessarily that short – all come in at under 6 foot tall.

16. Burnley (180.1 cm / 6’0″)

Somewhat surprising given the position of the other promoted teams and the fact Burnley are not a possession team, they have one of the smallest average heights in the league. The Clarets only a few regular starters over 6 foot tall, and no giants in their squad, contributing to their overall low average height.

17. Leicester City (179.4 cm / 5’10”)

Robert Huth is a towering figure at the back for Leicester City, but other than him the defending champions are rather a short team. Andy King and Leo Ulloa are the only semi-regular midfield and attacking options standing at 6’0″ or more for Leicester.

18. Arsenal (179.3 cm / 5’10”)

Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla is particularly diminutive

Moving into the bottom three and few will be surprised to see Arsenal so low down on this list. Arlene Wenger has made a habit of signing and bringing through short players, the current squad has the likes of Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla and Serge Gnabry, all of whom are fairly diminutive.

19. Bournemouth (179.2 cm / 5’10”)

Just a tad shorter than Arsenal are Bournemouth. The Cherries goalkeeper Artur Boruc is quite tall, but after that they don’t have a great deal of height, even a couple of their back four come in at under 6 foot.

Tyrone Mings is one player who could bring a great deal of height to the Bournemouth side, but he is yet to recover from a serious injury sustained last September.

20. Manchester City (177.6 cm / 5’9″)

Short Manchester City midfielder David Silva

The shortest team on average in the Premier League and by some distance too is Manchester City. One would expect this of a Pep Guardiola team but perhaps not so soon into his tenure.

The Man City team is noticeably short, especially without 6’4″ captain Vincent Kompany, who is currently out injured. In midfield especially Manchester City are a short team, and the likes of David Silva, Jesus Navas, Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero contribute to the club having the shortest team on average in the Premier League.

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