The rise of the long throw
Once viewed as a quirky relic associated almost entirely with Tony Pulis and his rugged Stoke City side, the long throw has evolved into a mainstream Premier League weapon. Today almost every top flight club is finding value in launching the ball deep into the penalty area, and the numbers show just how powerful this approach has become.
Last season saw 20 goals created directly from throw in routines. This campaign is not yet a third of the way through, but already 12 goals have emerged from those same situations. That rate suggests the league could be moving towards a record breaking total.
A long throw is officially defined by Opta as any delivery travelling more than 20 metres, and the Premier League is inching closer to that benchmark with each passing year. Two seasons ago, the average throw was 16.5 metres. Last season it increased slightly to 16.7. Now it has shot up to 18.6, an extraordinary jump that underlines how clubs are embracing distance as a deliberate tactical asset.
Why Brentford lead the revolution
If one club symbolises the modern long throw era, it is Brentford, and one player above all embodies their approach: Michael Kayode.
The Bees have been pioneers of set piece innovation for years, and it helps that manager Keith Andrews has spent time as a set piece specialist. When Brentford identify an advantage, they do not hesitate to exploit it, and Kayode’s prodigious power has become central to their strategy.
The defender arrived in January with a growing reputation, having thrown 23 long deliveries for Fiorentina in 2023 24 and 24 more in the first half of 2024 25. When he joined Brentford, those numbers immediately surged. Across only six starts and six appearances from the bench, he launched 21 long throws.
This season he has taken 54 in just 11 matches. Behind him come Nordi Mukiele of Sunderland with 46 and Chris Richards of Crystal Palace with 29. But Kayode is not only prolific, he is also the most powerful. His average distance of 33.2 metres is the best in the division, ahead of Lucas Bergvall at Tottenham, who averages 30.6 metres from his 16 long throws.
Other heavy users include Burnley, with Kyle Walker reprising the skill he demonstrated early in his career, Bournemouth with Antoine Semenyo, Leeds United with Ethan Ampadu, and Everton, who split duties between Jake O’Brien and Vitalii Mykolenko.
At the opposite end sit Chelsea, Manchester City, Brighton and Liverpool, none of whom have attempted more than two long throws into the area all season.
Even within Brentford’s own squad, Kayode is not the single biggest launcher. Mathias Jensen recorded deliveries of 45.4 metres at Nottingham Forest and 42.7 metres at Crystal Palace, while Kevin Schade also contributes.
The impact is clear. Brentford have already scored three goals from long throw routines this season, with strikes for Fabio Carvalho against Chelsea, Dango Ouattara against Liverpool and Kevin Schade versus Newcastle United.
How stadiums influence the throw in battle
Although Brentford dominate the leaderboards, they do not hold the record for the longest throw in the league this season. That distinction belongs to Rodrigo Gomes of Wolves, who reached 46.1 metres against Everton.
Despite this incredible reach, Wolves remain infrequent users, with Gomes taking only seven long throws across his four matches. Curiously, Molineux also produces the shortest average distance for throws launched into the final third.
Do stadiums themselves affect long throw output? The evidence is mixed. Five of the six grounds where Brentford have played this season appear in the top six for long throw distance, which may skew the figures simply because of Kayode’s influence. The one ground in that group they have not yet visited is the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, fittingly home to former Brentford manager Thomas Frank, another coach who values set piece structure.
Pitch size does not seem decisive either. Several stadiums do not meet the Premier League’s standard dimensions due to structural limitations. Anfield, Craven Cottage, Selhurst Park and Stamford Bridge all fall below the usual 105 by 68 metres standard, yet their long throw profiles do not show any consistent differences. This suggests that technique, coaching and personnel matter far more than the physical dimensions of the surface.
Sunderland’s cunning ploy and the advertising board saga
The Premier League does not often witness outright gamesmanship, but Sunderland’s decision to move their advertising boards closer to the pitch before facing Arsenal caused immediate debate.
Reducing run up space directly affects long throw distance. Set piece coaches know that a long approach generates momentum, which in turn produces more power. By squeezing the space, Sunderland aimed to disrupt Arsenal’s well trained routines.
This is not the first time the Black Cats have tried such a ploy. They moved the boards during their Championship play off semi final against Coventry in May, a match they successfully managed across two legs.
Though Arsenal hold a deserved reputation for being dangerous from set pieces, they have not scored from a throw in routine this season. At the Stadium of Light the average length of long throws increased steadily across the opening five home fixtures. From 8.3 metres against West Ham on the opening weekend, it rose to 24.9 metres and 27.4 metres when Wolves and Everton visited.
Vitalii Mykolenko produced the longest throw seen at the ground this season, launching a 33.2 metre delivery. Perhaps that prompted Sunderland to act even before Arsenal arrived.
What makes the tactic so intriguing is that it is legal. Premier League rules allow clubs to reposition advertising boards as long as they remain at least one metre from the touchline. As Thomas Gronnemark, the long throw specialist who has worked with Brentford, Liverpool and Sunderland’s own Mukiele, explained, this sits in a grey area. He said, "When you move the boards closer, players lose their run up. If you are facing a team with strong long throw specialists, it can weaken their weapon."
He added, "Some clubs even do the opposite. At Midtjylland we polished the concrete to maximise the run up space for our throwers."
Did it work for Sunderland? Perhaps not in the expected way. Against Arsenal the average long throw into the final third rose again to 28.6 metres. However, only five long throws were attempted the entire match, compared with 10 from Wolves and eight from Everton in previous games. It suggests that the real success of the tactic may lie in limiting the number of attempts rather than the quality of each throw.
Mind games, marginal gains and the Premier League’s new arms race
The evolution of the long throw tells the story of a league increasingly shaped by marginal gains. Clubs are investing in biomechanics, throw in coaches and structural manipulation of the match environment to extract every competitive edge.
Sunderland’s decision to move the advertising boards may have had limited effect on distance, but it raises questions that will echo throughout the league. Are clubs willing to reshape their stadium surroundings to nullify opponents? And will the Premier League intervene if such tactics become widespread?
Most importantly, the trend shows no sign of slowing. With 12 long throw goals already this season, and distances increasing year on year, the long throw has become a serious attacking threat once more. It is not the sole domain of Pulis era Stoke, but a widely adopted and finely tuned weapon shaping match outcomes across the division.
The long throw is back, and this time it is part of the Premier League’s tactical mainstream.