Professional footballers are among the best-conditioned athletes in the world. They cover 10 to 13 kilometres per match at varying intensities, with repeated short sprints, direction changes and recoveries throughout 90 minutes plus stoppage time. So how do they perform on the beep test?
The short answer is: very well, but perhaps not as well as you might expect if you are comparing them to pure endurance athletes.
Typical Scores for Professional Footballers
Published data and coaching reports from professional football suggest that elite outfield players typically score between level 13 and level 15 on the standard 20 metre beep test. Some reach 16. Goalkeepers, whose match demands are quite different, tend to score somewhat lower — often in the level 11 to 13 range.
Youth academy players at Premier League clubs are typically assessed regularly throughout their development. Data from youth academies suggests that first team squad players at 18 to 19 years old are expected to reach level 12 to 13 as a minimum, with the best reaching 14 and above.
These scores put elite outfield players in the Excellent bracket for their age group according to standard norms. But they are not at the absolute ceiling of human aerobic performance — that territory belongs to elite endurance athletes like cross country skiers and distance runners.
Why Footballers Are Not at the Very Top
The beep test primarily measures aerobic capacity. Footballers are aerobically fit, but their training is designed around match demands — a mix of aerobic base fitness, repeated sprint ability and technical work. They are not training to maximise VO2 max in the way an elite 5000 metre runner is.
Additionally, the specific movement pattern of the beep test — straight line running with 180 degree turns every 20 metres — is close to but not identical to the movements of football. A footballer's fitness is built around multidirectional movement, not optimised for a specific straight-shuttle test.
What This Means for Your Training
If you are a footballer using the beep test as a fitness benchmark, level 12 to 13 is a reasonable target for outfield players at a good amateur or semi-professional level. Reaching level 10 to 11 is a solid benchmark for recreational players who take their fitness seriously.
The training demands are similar to what professional clubs use: aerobic base running, interval training at high intensities, and repeated sprint work. The beep test specific training in this site's guide applies directly to football preparation.
One useful comparison for footballers: the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test is actually a better predictor of football specific fitness than the standard beep test, because it incorporates a recovery interval between shuttles that more closely mirrors the intermittent demands of a match. Many professional clubs use it instead of or alongside the standard beep test.