McDonald’s pitted the nation’s favourite half-time ‘reviver’ against 19 other fruits to find the changing room champion and name the Premier League of half-time fruits.

The first real shock is that the orange is mid-table – a full 12 places below the mango in terms of its impact on energy levels.

‘The McDonald’s Half-Time Orange Report’ reveals that the mango is the no.1 fruit for energy with three times the quantity of carbohydrate compared to an orange. The mango also gets energy 20% faster to the muscles than the humble citrus.

As a result of the study, FA community partner McDonald’s is delivering 10,000 mangoes ‘ready to eat’ to football coaches across the UK to help with their end of season run-in.

McDonald’s recruited sports scientists to analyse 30 widely available fruits to reveal which fruit contained the highest energy content. The study surveyed nearly 1,000 amateur players at 165 clubs to find out the half-time eating habits of the nation’s footballers.

Launching the findings, the original half-time orange player, Sir Geoff Hurst MBE, who is leading McDonald’s coaching drive commented: "Take a walk down to your local park on a Sunday and you'll still see coaches serving up half-time oranges to young players. In my time as a player with West Ham and England, the half-time orange was our staple nourishment in the changing room.

The second half can mean the difference between winning and losing a match – you see players suffering from fatigue and that’s when mistakes are made and goals scored. Eating and drinking the right foods at half-time can make a real difference to your second half performance whether you are a top flight player or Sunday League player."

Key findings of ‘The McDonald’s Half-Time Orange Report’ include:

- One mango contains 42g of energy (carbohydrate) compared to 15g in an orange
- Eleven fruits contain more energy than an orange
- Players would need to eat more than three whole oranges at half-time to get the maximum amount of energy they need for the second half
- Bottom of the league is the grapefruit – players would need to eat over 8 whole grapefruits to get all the energy they need for the second half

THE OFFICIAL ‘FRUITS OF SUCCESS’ LEAGUE

 Pos Fruit   Carbs
(g)		  Glycaemic Index

 Ideal halftime
dosage

  Equivalent. oranges (whole)

1

Mango

42

56

1.2

2.75

2

Papaya

30

37

1.7

1.9

2

Banana

28

37

1.8

1.8

4

Grapes

26

46

1.9

1.7

5

Pear

25

37

2

1.65

6

Cherries

24

22

2

1.65

7

Apple

21

38

2.4

1.3

8

Blackberries

19

35

2.6

1.2

9

Pineapple

18

66

2.8

1.17

10

Raspberries

17

35

3

1.1

11

Nectarine

16

42

3.1

1.06

12

Orange

15

44

3.3

1

13

Honeydew melon

14

65

3.6

0.9

14

Kiwi fruit

12

53

4.2

0.7

15

Peach

11

42

4.5

0.7

16

Avocado

10

30

5

0.66

17

Plum

9.5

39

5.3

0.62

18

Strawberries

9

40

5.5

0.6

19

Tangerine

8.5

44

5.9

0.55

20

Grapefruit

6

25

8.3

0.3



Oranges are not the only fruit…

Every weekend over 800 tonnes of oranges are eaten by the nation’s footballers at half-time – that’s one in every six British amateur footballers.

But most footballers would be receptive to swapping the half-time orange for a mango - 52% of English players said they would give the mango a try while 33% of Welsh players and 30% of Scottish players they would give the mango a go.

"The half-time orange, like the flat coke and half a banana, is probably one of the most infamous examples of home-grown sports science. There are many other fruits which provide more energy per portion to replenish depleted levels during the ninety minutes," said Anita Bean, one of the UK’s leading nutritionists.

A game of two halves...

"Over 90 minutes the average footballer performs roughly 1,000 bursts of action from frequent changes of pace and direction, to skills like passing, dribbling and shooting. A player is constantly using energy to do this," said Professor Mike Gleeson, Sport Scientist.

The study revealed that the nation’s footballers have poor half-time habits and risk dehydration and fatigue – 59% of players do not consume any carbohydrate in food or drink during the interval.

The findings are a stark warning to coaches as most players eat or drink what they are given or told by their coach – 45% in England, 36% in Scotland and 28% in Wales.

"A balanced diet of foods and fluids can mean the difference between winning and losing. Most fruits are about 80-90% water so they are a useful source of fluid. It is vital players drink as much fluid as possible at half-time (non alcoholic). Apart from dehydration and loss of performance, it will also help them recover more quickly," said Anita Bean, one of the UK’s leading nutritionists.

Tuck into the fish eyes, lads …

The study also reveals some of the more bizarre half-time foods footballers have tried including pickled fish, fish eyes, jelly babies, snails and frogs legs.