The Long Read – The Development of Throw-Ins

The Development of Throw-Ins

 “I am the first person in the world to always be thinking about throw-ins.” says Thomas Grønnemark. The Danish coach is the first in the history of football to specialise in throw-ins. In recent seasons he has worked as a freelance coach with some of the biggest clubs in the world, including Ajax, RB Leipzig, and Liverpool. He’s also been the subject of much more media attention than the average coach. People are intrigued by what he does, because it’s part of the game that tends to be taken for granted.

Throw-ins are one of the least glamorous parts of football. They are generally seen as just a simple way to get the ball back into play. After all, anyone can throw a ball. There has been so little interest in the humble throw-in over the years, that former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has repeatedly suggested that they ought to be replaced with kick-ins.

Former footballers such as Steve Nicol and Andy Gray have mocked the idea of a throw-in coach, but Grønnemark’s success suggests that the role isn’t as absurd as it may sound at first.

In the average Premier League match, there are about 40 throw-ins, making it the most frequent set-piece, more common than free-kicks, corners or penalties. This means that improving the way a team throws the ball back into play can have a significant impact on their performance. However, throw-ins have rarely received the kind of attention shown to other set-pieces.

The Early Days

When football and rugby first started to be standardised by the Victorians, the two sports were more similar than they are today. This is reflected in the very early rules for throw-ins, which the FA adopted in 1863. Like a line-out in modern rugby, the ball had to be thrown perpendicular to the touch-line, instead of forwards or backwards. This was eventually changed in 1877.

This wasn’t the only difference to the rules as we know them today. Until 1873, the throw-in was awarded to whichever team touched the ball first after it had gone out of play. It was also common among clubs Sheffield clubs to use a kick-in instead of a throw-in, something which almost became a standard part of the game, but was twice narrowly rejected at FA meetings in 1875 and 1876.

Until 1883, players could use just the one hand to throw the ball. Using one hand made it easier to throw the ball over very long distances. Billy Gunn, who was born in 1858 and represented the England national team at both cricket and football, was one of the early masters of the one-handed throw. As an outfielder on the cricket pitch he was known for his accurate throw and he used the skill to spectacular effect on the football pitch. His throws were so powerful that in a game against Scotland in 1882 he was able to throw from the touchline in England’s own half and reach the Scottish penalty area.

The Long Throw

Although the one-handed throw was banned, certain players over the years have had the ability to launch dangerous long throws into the box. Because it’s impossible under the rules for a player to be offside from a throw-in, a good long throw can be even more dangerous than a corner or a free-kick whipped into the box. The attacking players can get as close to the goal as they want and force the defenders back to their goal-line as they prepare for the ball to come in.

Ian Hutchinson, the former Chelsea striker, had a formidable long throw which lofted high into the air before dropping down into the penalty box. On his debut for Chelsea against Ipswich Town in 1968, one such long throw caused such panic in the Ipswich defence that they put the ball into their own net. His most famous long throw came in the 1970 FA Cup final against Leeds. In a match which has become renowned for its viciousness, including Hutchinson getting into a fist-fight with Leeds’s Eddie McCreadie, the game was won after a long throw by Hutchinson was headed in at the far-post by David Webb.

In the years after Hutchinson, lower-league players such as Andy Legg and Dave Challinor gained recognition for their long throws, but it was Stoke City’s Rory Delap who brought the long throw into the modern English Premier League.

The Irish international was a schoolboy javelin champion. Compared to the lofted throw of Ian Hutchinson, Delap’s throws were faster and flatter and shot through the air with a large amount of backspin. This meant that he was able to target specific areas of the penalty box. The flatness of the throws also made them much more difficult for defenders to deal with.

Delap’s throw-ins came to national attention in the 2008-09 season, when Stoke played their first season in the Premier League. Their first goal of the season came after Mamady Sidibe got on the end of a Delap throw and it became a regular part of Stoke’s attacking arsenal. “Most long throws tend to be a bit loopy, whereas Delap’s are fired in like a free-kick,” explained Match of the Day pundit Lee Dixon.[2]

To try to counteract the Delap long throw, teams tried various evasive measures. During a match in November 2008, Hull goalkeeper Boaz Myhill opted to knock the ball out for a corner rather than a throw-in, deciding that the former posed less of a threat to his goal. Teams such as West Ham and Burnley moved their advertising hoardings closer to the pitch to give Delap less space in his run-up. Such measures did little to stop him. During Delap’s first four seasons at Stoke, his throws led to 25 goals.

Eventually, though, as teams became used to playing against Stoke, the effectiveness of Delap’s throw did start to wane. It lost the fear factor it held when Stoke were new to the Premier League. The long throw can still be effective, though. In the women’s game, Megan Campbell, like Delap, an Irish international, has been regularly creating goals with her impressive long throws in recent seasons.

The Flip Throw

Delap’s long throws averaged a distance of 38 metres and reached speeds of 37 miles per hour, but his throws lag far behind those of Michael Lewis. The American currently holds the world record for the longest throw-in: an impressive 59.817 metres, which he achieved in Frisco, Texas in April 2019.