James Olsen was preparing for one of the most important matches of his life, so he wanted to ensue he would perform at his best.

A cup final awaited for his UK amateur team and, aged in his 30s and needing to keep pace with players 10 years younger, the then Holy Trinity FC player-manager sought a supplement to boost energy levels.

He looked in a branch of a well-known brand in the sports nutrition industry but couldn't find what he wanted.

"Football is the most popular sport in the world and I just assumed there would be products out there for footballers," he tells me.

"On one side of the scale you had products for bulking up, for guys who go to the gym. And on the other side you had products for runners and cyclists and the ultra-endurance side of things.

"They didn't have anything for footballers and I thought that was weird. It was a light-bulb moment."

Olsen, whose background is in finance, teamed up with teammate Mark Britton to create Soccer Supplement. The company makes a range of nutrition products – including everything from energy gels to hydration drinks – specifically for soccer players.

It has caught the attention of the professional soccer world and the business now supplies more than 100 international clubs and national teams. England captain and Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane, and Juventus and Argentina forward Paulo Dybala, were so impressed they have agreed to promote the brand as ambassadors.

Soccer Supplement launched in January 2017 after about a year of research. Olsen contacted nutritionists working in the English Premier League PINC to ask what supplements their players used. He asked what they liked and didn't like about existing products, from ingredients to which flavors players preferred. Reports were written based on the findings which became the basis for the company's first five products.

Olsen, CEO and co-founder of Soccer Supplement, says designing products specifically for soccer players makes the company stand out.

"I think the entire sports nutrition market is set up in such a way that they will produce 1,000 different products and then ask you to adapt your sport around those products. Whereas for us, we started with a sport, and then we adapt the products around that sport."

Britton, the company commercial director and co-founder, previously worked with Brazilian World Cup winner Cafu and played a key role in "getting in the door" of clubs to test Soccer Supplement products. Today, clubs including West Ham, Sheffield United, Monaco and the national teams of Scotland and Mexico use them.

Everything Soccer Supplement sell is first tested by Inform Sport, a lab which analyzes the products to ensure they are free of banned substances. While it is an expensive process, Britton says it is a "no-brainer" and further boosts their reputation with professional players.

"I've never been involved in a business where clubs will recommend you to other clubs, but I've had that a lot recently, especially over the last six months. I've got French teams that are competing at the top of the league that are recommending us to each other," he says.

"It's just a total game changer when you know your credibility is that high."

Soccer has been relatively late to realize the benefits of nutrition products to aid performance and recovery. Manchester United players were once told to eat Jaffa Cakes – a popular UK chocolate biscuit – in an effort to boost energy levels.

But elite clubs are increasingly embracing science in their decision-making in an effort to find a winning edge. And the global sports nutrition market is growing. According to a report released in February by Polaris Market Research, the market will be worth $33 billion by 2028.

With the backing of some of the world's best players secured, Soccer Supplement has ambitious plans to expand internationally and reach the largely untapped amateur market. They have agreed distribution deals with 18 countries, including the US, with strong growth anticipated in the next six to 12 months.

The ultimate goal is to make their products as essential a part of a player's kitbag as their shinpads. They want to help both those at the top of the game and those amateurs who, like Olsen before the cup final, want to maximize their performance.

"There's something like 300 million adults playing football once a week so we know that's a considerable market. We want to be in all of those 300 million kitbags, that's our ambition," Olsen says.

"It's the same sort of approach of a Nike NKE or Adidas – they make sure the product is proved at the very top of the game and that will then trickle down. That's why you end up getting amateurs playing £200 ($278) for a pair of football boots, because they want to be like the professionals.

"We think our products will have a much bigger impact on a player's performance, even if they're playing for a pub team."