A&H

Throw ins

W

Wilf

New Member
Law 15.1 states the procedure for a throw in as:

At the moment of delivering the ball, the thrower must:
  • stand facing the field of play
  • have part of each foot on the touchline or on the ground outside the touchline
  • throw the ball with both hands from behind and over the head from the point where it left the field of play
I had a grassroots game recently where a player repeatedly took throw ins with the back of his heel touching the line, but the rest of his feet on the field of play. I allowed this, as although unorthodox, it is consistent with the LOTG. This caused a furore with the opposition players and coaches. Was I right to interpret the LOTG in this way and allow the throw ins? If so, why don’t pros take throw ins in this way, especially long throws fired into the box, the same way they now position corner kicks as far from the touch line as possible to gain maximum advantage?
 
The Referee Store
You are correct in law.
Many players would not know the relevant bit of law, and to judge a run-up to the touchline that accurately would be similar to a long jumper judging their take-off . . . for minimal benefit . . .
 
Assuming the player had the heels of both feet on the touchline, then your interpretation is correct.

Generally speaking, player's don't understand throw ins, as proven by the amount of rubbish "Foul Throw Ref' shouts you hear during the game. So there's a good chance player's don't realise they have extra space.

Also I'm not too sure how much more of an advantage an extra inch or two would be.
 
Wilf said:
Law 15.1 states the procedure for a throw in as:

At the moment of delivering the ball, the thrower must:
  • stand facing the field of play
  • have part of each foot on the touchline or on the ground outside the touchline
  • throw the ball with both hands from behind and over the head from the point where it left the field of play
I had a grassroots game recently where a player repeatedly took throw ins with the back of his heel touching the line, but the rest of his feet on the field of play. I allowed this, as although unorthodox, it is consistent with the LOTG. This caused a furore with the opposition players and coaches. Was I right to interpret the LOTG in this way and allow the throw ins? If so, why don’t pros take throw ins in this way, especially long throws fired into the box, the same way they now position corner kicks as far from the touch line as possible to gain maximum advantage?
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You are correct. Pros (bizarrely) don't know this. Much like they don't understand the difference between offside position and offside offence, the fact that they need to be 4m away at a drop ball, the fact that the referee doesn't have to stop play for an additional ball on the field etc etc etc etc
 
I wouldn’t call it a good tactic at all. Who needs a few extra inches on a throw? And the trade off is that if you miss it my an inch you lose the throw.
 
It's almost similar to those who try to steal every inch on a corner by overhanging the ball over the quadrant as much as possible. It baffles me as to why they feel the need when they can comfortably reach where they're aiming for regardless. Perfectly legal but totally unnecessary!
 
Interesting, an incident like this was the final catalyst that led me to becoming a referee.

Back in the day, I was assistant managing with my old youth coach in (Technically on the pyramid, but not in quality) third tier football in Australia (Third tier in this region, is probably more akin to 6th-7th tier in other regions of Australia), and the referee was calling foul throws because the throwers foot was on the line. Surprised I didn't get sent from the TA in hindsight.
 
There is a very good reason why pros do not take throw ins with their heels touching the line. While it is totally legal, it is instinctive to go up onto one's toes as you throw. This would mean no part of the foot is now touching the ground on or behind the touchline and lead to a foul throw.
 
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