The throw-in has been in football since the Rules of Association Football were drawn up in 1863, by the fledgling Football Association.
The rule then only said that the throw-in was taken by the first player who touched the ball after it had gone out of play. Imagine the scrambles.
There were no instructions on how the ball was to be thrown. This came some years later when it was said a correct throw-in was that the thrower shall use both hands and shall deliver the ball from behind and over the head.
Since rewritten, and simply says, ‘The thrower must throw the ball with both hands, from behind and over the head’, A slight difference but one that can make a difference.
It might be thought that the throw-in is a minor part of the game but if you look at the statistics you will see that there are more throw-ins per game than there are corners or even free kicks.
Some people think that throw-ins should be done away with altogether and should be replaced with a kick-in.
Arsene Wenger, who most will remember as Arsenal’s most successful ever manager, is now the FIFA Chief of Global Football and has expressed his support for the kick in, but the trials have got nowhere.
The throw-in has had some more attention by players and clubs in recent years. You will find many have a designated thrower, wherever the ball has gone out of play.
Presumably, this is the result of testing players’ throwing ability to see who could throw it the furthest, It can also be used to slow the game down.
There has been a variation however of the throw-in by some players, notably by Trent Alexander Arnold of Liverpool FC. This has been dubbed the ‘Modern throw-in’.
This is where the thrower puts one hand behind the ball (the throwing hand) whilst the other is at the side of the ball as a sort of guide. To me it seemed that this was breaching the Law, so I sought some advice from the Director of the Technical Committee of IFAB, whether there had been some change to the meaning ‘both of hands behind the ball’.
His reply was simple. ‘There is no change to the Law or its interpretation. The expectation is that the hands are on both sides of the ball’. So this new type of throw-in might be modern, but it is also illegal in the Laws of the Game.
By Dick Sawdon Smith
