England were working on throw-ins - in 1882.
Coaches will simply work harder on getting teams to defend against them.
The BBC used to have a great Saturday evening programme back in the day called “Record Breakers”. People of all ages would write in claiming all manner of records from oldest-living hamster, unmatched speed for cleaning windows or hopping the furthest distance. These would be judged for inclusion in the Guinness Book of Records. Two footballers were accorded the honour for the length of their throw-ins. Back in the 1990s.
Andy Legg, currently head coach of Barry Town United, was a versatile attack-minded left-back who was at Swansea City in 1992 when hurling the ball 44.6m on a special section of “Record Breakers” at Wembley. Legg’s missiles proved particularly effective at Birmingham City with 6ft 7in Kevin Francis as a target.
Legg held the record for seven years before Tranmere Rovers’ Dave Challinor launched his throw 46.34m. “He can throw it further than I can kick it,” Bryan Robson said on the eve of his Middlesbrough side facing Tranmere in the 1999 League Cup quarter-final at Prenton Park. Tranmere won 2-1 “with Dave Challinor’s enormous throws always a danger”, the BBC reported.
Long throws are nothing new. England beat Scotland in one Home International with their throws, especially from Notts County’s William Gunn. In 1882. On his debut for Chelsea in 1968, Ian Hutchinson launched a series of throw-ins, one of which spooked an Ipswich Town defender who put the ball in his own net.
Long throws have defined major moments. Hutchinson’s long throw was flicked on for Dave Webb to win the FA Cup for Chelsea in 1970. “It all started as a gimmick and then the great tactical benefit was realised and every season now we work on different set-pieces using my long throw,” Hutchinson told the Cambridge Evening News in 1971.
Rory Delap’s astonishing throws helped create 24 of Stoke City’s goals during the 2008/09 and 2009/10 Premier League seasons. The Irish defender Megan Campbell launched her throws nearly 38m to worry England’s Lionesses last year. Dubbed “Rory De-lass”, Campbell made the Guinness Book of Records.
⚽ ⚽
This little saunter down memory lane merely goes to show that throw-ins were causing problems in the 1880s, 1960s, 1970s, 1990s, 2000s, and more recently. Brentford are the current masters at it, whether Michael Kayode launching the ball into Liverpool’s box on Saturday or turning to others like Kevin Schade, Ethan Pinnock, Mathias Jensen and Frank Onyeka. It’s almost as if their fabled recruitment department puts such prowess high on the list of requirements.
Fittingly, of course, Brentford have their former set-piece coach, Keith Andrews, as head coach now. Andrews varies the play, as good managers do. Schade’s run on to Mikkel Damsgaard’s perfect pass shows the quality and variety of Brentford’s play. But in an elite sport of small margins making big differences, utilising long throws makes sense. The snobbery towards the tactic is strange. Why shouldn’t teams prepare for all eventualities?