Stoke City’s opponents in the 2009/10 Premier League season constructed dedicated defensive rehearsals for a single dead-ball situation: a throw-in from the touchline. Rory Delap’s 40-metre launches into the penalty area had converted a routine restart into a recurring scoring threat that no other club could replicate.
By David Findlay, Founder of KiqIQ.
Quick Answer: A long throw in football is a throw-in delivered over an extended distance, typically 25 metres or more, used as a tactical set-piece to deliver the ball directly into the opponent’s penalty area and create goal-scoring opportunities.
Definition: A long throw is a throw-in technique in association football where a player propels the ball over a significant distance using both hands simultaneously from behind the head, maintaining contact with both feet on or behind the touchline throughout the delivery, as governed by Law 15 of the Laws of the Game.
Key point: Liverpool FC hired Thomas Gronnemark, holder of a 51.33-metre Guinness World Record throw, as a specialist throw-in coach. Publicly cited figures from Gronnemark state that Liverpool’s possession retention from throw-ins improved from 45.4% to 68.4% within one season, and that Andy Robertson added approximately six metres to his delivery range.
What Is a Long Throw in Football?
FIFA’s Laws of the Game do not define a “long throw” as a formal category. In applied coaching and analytics contexts, any throw covering 25 metres or more is often treated as a long throw because it can carry the ball into the attacking penalty area, bypass a defensive press, and require specific opposition preparation.
Distance is only one variable. Trajectory, pace, and release angle determine whether the delivery is punchable by a goalkeeper or flicks through the six-yard box. Under wet conditions at Stoke City’s Britannia Stadium, Delap’s flat, fast throws were particularly difficult to defend because of their pace, trajectory, and the chaos they created around first contacts and second balls.
The Mechanics of a Long Throw
Four mechanical components produce a long throw:
- Run-up: A sprint approach increases kinetic energy transferred into the delivery. Dave Challinor, who recorded a 46.34-metre throw, required 5 to 10 yards of run-up space to generate sufficient power.
- Grip: Both hands must be positioned behind the ball, with fingers spread across the seams for a controlled, spinning release.
- Shoulder rotation: The delivery arc, from hands behind the head through to full arm extension, drives distance. Ian Hutchinson of Chelsea used a continuous windmill follow-through after release, extending his effective leverage.
- Technique variant (flip throw): A forward somersault from a running start generates additional rotational energy. Steve Watson and later Michael Lewis, who recorded an unofficial 59.8 metres in 2019, used this method. The flip throw is legal under current FIFA regulations provided both feet contact the ground on or outside the touchline at the moment of release.
5 Greatest Long-Throw Specialists in Football History
1. Rory Delap
Delap played as a midfielder and defender for the Republic of Ireland and Stoke City between 2006 and 2013. His throw-in range exceeded 40 metres under match conditions, allowing Stoke to deliver the ball from the halfway line into the penalty area. Opponents constructed specific defensive structures to counter his delivery. Across the 2008/09 and 2009/10 Premier League seasons, Stoke scored 14 Premier League goals from throw-in situations, a figure that elevated the long throw from novelty to tactical system.
2. Ian Hutchinson
Chelsea’s Ian Hutchinson was central to the club’s 1970 FA Cup Final victory, with his long throw directly contributing to the winning goal in the replay against Leeds United. His windmill arm technique, continuing to rotate the arm after the ball left his hands, produced one of the most tactically influential deliveries in English football history.
3. Dave Challinor
Challinor, who played for Tranmere Rovers, held the professional footballer’s throw-in world record at 46.34 metres. His delivery required a significant run-up and was deployed primarily as a weapon in the attacking third. He later moved into management and is one of the most analytically studied long-throw practitioners in English football’s lower leagues.
4. Andy Legg
Legg played as a defender for Swansea City, Birmingham City, and Notts County during the 1990s. He was widely reported to have held the longest throw-in mark at 44.6 metres before being surpassed. In the lower divisions of English football, his delivery functioned as a direct goal threat comparable to a dead-ball free kick into the box.
5. Megan Campbell
Campbell, a Republic of Ireland international, set the Guinness World Record for the women’s farthest football throw-in at 37.55 metres in 2025. Her range is among the longest documented in professional women’s football and has drawn direct tactical comparisons with Delap’s method in the men’s game.
Tactical Application
A long throw creates a set-piece threat in positions where corner kicks and free kicks are unavailable. When a team wins a throw-in in the attacking third, a specialist can deliver the ball directly into the six-yard box, bypassing the defensive line entirely.
The tactical problem for defenders is that a long throw with flat trajectory behaves differently from a corner kick. Delivered with pace, it can be aimed at the near post for a flick-on, the back post for a late arriving header, or through the box for a second-ball situation. Each requires different defensive positioning, and the goalkeeper must judge whether to claim, punch, or stay.
Tony Pulis systematised this at Stoke City by drilling specific attacking runs timed to Delap’s delivery: one player to flick on at the near post, others arriving late at the back post and the edge of the area. It converted a routine restart into a high-probability set-piece structure.
The Role of Specialist Throw-In Coaching
Thomas Gronnemark, a Danish former athlete, set a Guinness World Record of 51.33 metres in 2010 and transitioned into full-time throw-in coaching. His clients include Liverpool FC, where his work covered both delivery distance and possession retention across all throw-in zones.
Publicly cited figures from Gronnemark state that Andy Robertson increased his throw-in range by approximately six metres and that Liverpool’s possession retention from throw-ins rose from 45.4% to 68.4% within a single season. Brentford also engaged Gronnemark during this period. His work established that the long throw is one component of a broader throw-in system: clubs now treat all throw-in situations as tactical restarts rather than administrative pauses in play.
The KiqIQ Angle
The long throw represents one of the clearest examples of a tactical asymmetry in football: a legal set-piece weapon that requires a specific physical attribute not governed by formation or system. No amount of pressing shape or ball-circulation drill neutralises the threat of a 40-metre launch into your penalty box. The clubs that have exploited it most, Stoke under Pulis and Liverpool under Gronnemark’s coaching, did so not through improvisation but through repetition, structural positioning, and treating the throw as a dead-ball routine rather than a restart. Throw-in possession retention and long-throw delivery are coachable, measurable, and tactically significant. Most clubs still ignore both.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the world record for the longest throw-in in football?
The Guinness World Record stands at 51.33 metres, set by Danish specialist Thomas Gronnemark in 2010. An unofficial mark of 59.8 metres has also been credited to American high school player Michael Lewis in 2019 using the flip throw technique.
Is the flip throw legal in football?
Yes. The flip throw, which involves a forward somersault approach before delivery, is legal under FIFA Law 15 provided both feet remain in contact with the ground on or outside the touchline at the moment of release.
Which club made the long throw famous in the Premier League?
Stoke City, under manager Tony Pulis, made the long throw a defining tactical weapon between 2008 and 2013. Rory Delap’s deliveries from near the halfway line into the penalty area contributed to 14 Premier League goals across the 2008/09 and 2009/10 seasons and became one of the most discussed set-piece systems in English football during that period.
Do clubs still use the long throw as a tactical weapon?
Yes. Liverpool and Brentford have both employed specialist throw-in coaching. Long throws remain part of the set-piece preparation of teams with suitable specialists in their squad, and the phase is now analysed more closely by clubs and data providers.
Who is the leading female long-throw specialist?
Megan Campbell is the standout female long-throw specialist. In 2025, she set the Guinness World Record for the women’s farthest football throw-in at 37.55 metres.