Making a Premier League matchday squad is a tall order. But for every Dan Burn, Erling Haaland and Peter Crouch, there are hundreds of players past and present of a shorter stature.
Several have become club legends and played in World Cups. One was even signed completely by mistake.
In honour of the Prem's long-awaited return this weekend, MailOnline has collated a 4-3-3 line-up to showcase the smallest XI ever to grace the league.
Goalkeeper - Clive Baker
Standing almost one foot shorter than the tallest Premier League XI's keeper Costel Pantilimon is Ipswich Town's Clive Baker at 5ft 8.8in.
Hailing from Norfolk, Baker spent just two seasons with Ipswich Town through the 1992-93 and 1993-94 campaigns, the Premier League's first two seasons. Retiring shortly afterwards, Baker took up an insurance career in London.
Clive Baker was one of the first goalkeepers to play in the league after its formation in 1992-93
Centre back - Michael Harriman
Suiting up just twice for Queen's Park Rangers during the 2011-2012 season, Harriman measured up at just 5ft 6in tall.
He went on to spend several years bouncing around the first and second division before retiring his playing career in 2023.
From there, Harriman stepped up to the managerial ranks, joining Southern League Premier Division club AFC Rushden and Diamonds as head coach at the outset of 2023.
Michael Harriman (left) boasts the accolade of being the league's shortest ever centre-half
Centre back - Finley Munroe
Standing ground in the centre of the back line with Harriman is Arsenal and England star Declan Rice's cousin, Finley Munroe.
Born in 2005, when five of this line-up's starting XI had already finished their Premier League careers, 5ft 6.5in Munroe has been a regular in Aston Villa's U18 and Premier League 2 sides since the age of 16.
In the nick of time to be eligible for a call-up to this squad, the centre back earned his first and only top flight cap to date last season, coming off the bench against Crystal Palace on the final day.
Born in 2005, Finlay Munroe will hope to become a permanent fixture at Villa Park this season
Right back - Tariq Lamptey
At 23 years old, Tariq Lamptey is a burgeoning Premier League talent along the top flight's back lines.
Despite a spate of injuries, he has racked up 88 appearances for Brighton since 2020, one of which saw him gift Arsenal a last-minute winner from the penalty spot at a crucial point of last season.
Previously a youth international for England, Lamptey switched allegiances to represent Ghana at senior international level and made his debut in 2022.
Brighton full-back Tariq Lamptey in action against Japan's Kashima Antlers in July 2024
Left back - Alan Wright
A true Premier League veteran, Wright spent eight years with Aston Villa between 1995-2003, clocking 280 appearances.
Nicknamed 'the mighty atom' for his 5ft 4in stature, Wright was called up to Terry Venables' England squad twice in 1996 but didn't make it onto the pitch.
After leaving Villa Park, Wright had spells at Middlesbrough and Oldham Athletic before pursuing a third division managerial career with Cheshire-based semi-professional club Northwich Victoria and later Mersey-based Southport.
Alan Wright had eight years with Aston Villa between 1995-2003, racking up 280 appearances
Left midfielder - Lee Hodges
Hodges played for Arsenal as a schoolboy in Essex and was capped nine times by England at under-16 level through the early 1990s.
But the promising start did not translate into top flight success for the 5ft 5in midfielder.
He made only three appearances in the Premier League between the 1996-99 seasons, all three coming in 1998 for West Ham United.
Hodges spent much of his three-year tenure with the Hammers out on loan in the Football League, including spells at Exeter City, Leyton Orient and Plymouth Argyle.
He went on to bounce around Isthmian League sides from 2003 until 2011.
The 41-year-old continues to suit up, currently playing for Essex amateur outfit Herongate Athletic.
Scunthorpe's Lee Hodges (left) only managed three Premier League games in three years
Centre midfielder - Jody Morris
Though perhaps not a household name, former Chelsea stalwart Jody Morris has had a pub quiz-worthy career.
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand supposedly once dubbed Morris 'the best schoolboy footballer in London' when the two were coming up through the junior England ranks.
The 5ft 5in Morris found his professional start at Chelsea in 1996, having grown up less than half a mile from Stamford Bridge.
He went on to appear 124 times for the club, though his tenure was not without controversy.
In September 2001, Morris, along with Chelsea and England legends Frank Lampard and John Terry, Iceland striker Eidur Gudjohnsen and Leicester City's Frank Sinclair were collectively fined around £100,000 for being drunk and disorderly in a hotel housing Americans left stranded by the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Morris also played for Leeds and Rotherham, before a brief managerial career first as Chelsea's assistant gaffer and then the full-time top job at Swindon Town until he left the club in May 2023.
Jody Morris was known to like a party and had to pay a share of £100,000 after an incident at a London hotel with Chelsea and England legends Frank Lampard and John Terry (not pictured)
Right midfielder - Aaron Lennon
Like Peter Crouch in the tallest Premier League XI, England and Tottenham Hotspur legend Lennon is comfortably the biggest name in this line-up.
Dubbed 'Roadrunner' for his pace by his boyhood team-mates, the 5ft 5in Lennon became the then-youngest Premier League player ever when he debuted for hometown club Leeds in 2003 aged 16 years, 129 days.
Two years later, Lennon transferred to Tottenham Hotspur and went on to suit up 266 times for the club across a decade, scoring 26 goals.
He was never able to find the net for his country's first team, however, tallying a goal-less 21-cap England career between 2006 and 2013, which included two World Cups.
Ex-England star Aaron Lennon on the ball for Burnley, his final Premier League club, in 2022
Left midfielder - Matty Holmes
West Ham midfielder Matty Holmes can lay claim to the title of being the shortest player in the history of the Premier League, measuring in at 5ft 3.7in
Holmes got his start in England's top flight after just one year with the Hammers, helping them earn promotion and a spot in the league's inaugural 1992-93 season.
The diminutive Holmes appeared 76 times for the London club and would likely have seen a much longer career had it not been for a horrific injury.
In 1998, a tackle from Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Kevin Muscat broke Holmes' leg so badly the surgeon considered him lucky not to need an amputation.
After failing to recover his form after the four operations needed to save his leg, he left top flight football in 2000 and played semi-professionally for Dorchester Town until his full retirement in 2004.
Matty Holmes' Premier League career was cut short after a horrific tackle broke his leg in 1998
Left winger - Ryan Fraser
Known for his stocky frame and pace on the ball, 5ft 4in Ryan Fraser is consistently on the receiving end of rough defensive play from Premier League back lines.
The winger spent four seasons with Bournemouth and manager Eddie Howe between 2015-2020 before moving on to Newcastle United.
After three years with the Magpies, he suited up for Southampton last season, bagging six goals as the Saints marched into the Championship play-offs, the second-highest single-season tally of his career.
Despite the run of form, he was left out of Scotland's Euro 2024 squad.
Ryan Fraser (left) celebrates scoring Newcastle's second goal against Everton back in 2022
Right winger - Albert Crusat Domenech
Zooming down Fraser's opposite wing is 5ft 4.1in Spaniard Albert Crusat.
Crusat moved to Wigan from Spanish side Almeria in the summer of 2011 but made just 17 career outings for the club, scoring once.
Sadly for Crusat, he was not taken with Roberton Martinez following his departure from Wigan for Everton oin 2013.
Instead he took his talents to Israeli side Bnei Sakhnin in 2014 and retired after one season.
Centre forward - Milton Nunez
Known as 'Tyson' for his resemblance to heavyweight boxing legend Mike Tyson, Milton Nunez spent only one season in the Premier League, stepping on the field just twice for Peter Reid's 2000 Sunderland squad.
Bizarrely, in a tale that is now part of Stadium of Light folklore, the 5ft 4inch Honduran forward appears to have been confused by the club with fellow countryman Adolfo Valencia, his striking partner at his previous club, Greece's PAOK.
For years, Nunez denied the mix up.
Speaking to the Northern Echo in 2016, he said 'I was absolutely 100 per cent the player Sunderland wanted to sign, for a start Adolfo was about 6ft tall!.
Milton Nunez, pictured above for Honduras, spent only one season in the Premier League
'I am, well, quite a lot shorter than that and he was also a very different style of player to me.'
But the striker eventually admitted the mix-up a year later to Honduran paper Diez, saying: 'I asked the Sunderland coach, 'and why did you bring me here?
'They were looking for Eduardo Valencia, but I do not know what I was doing there.'
He went on to represent regional sides in his native Honduras until his retirement in 2020.