There is nothing new under the sun.

We’ve had the luxury of Ben Tozer’s long throws as an extra string to our attacking bow over the last two seasons, and the way people talk about his freakish delivery, you’d think he invented the tactic!

Of course, he didn’t, and Wrexham benefitted from exactly that approach when we were promoted back in 1970!

Full back Alan Bermingham possessed a long throw and was able to use it to good effect. With man-mountain targets like Eddie May to aim for, you can understand why it was a highly effective tactic!

As well as going up to the third tier in that season, we also enjoyed a good FA Cup run, including an away win in the third round at Norwich, who were two divisions above us. The match report from the time emphasises how Bermingham’s long throw was a genuine threat:

“Repeatedly Bermingham stunned Norwich with his long throws from the touchline. They were often worth a corner kick and the home defence was prone to panic.”

Carlos Edwards could loop a long throw in to decent effect, and another memorable season in which we deployed a long throw was 2011-12, when Curtis Obeng was the man with the golden arms. Admittedly, Obeng got nowhere near as much distance as the likes of Tozer or Bermingham, but his ability to loop the ball towards the near post was a very useful tactic, which we’ve seen Wrexham take advantage of in the last two seasons.

Obeng’s throws didn’t directly lead to any goals, but indirectly quite a few flowed from them. That was because his throws were a chance to pen the opposition into their area.

A packed six-yard box meant Obeng’s throws didn’t have the initial sting to pierce a massed defence, but that also meant there were very few defenders on the edge of the box to compete for the secnd ball.

That meant Wrexham would constantly win the ball back from the header away and keep the pressure on. Plenty of goals came from recirculating the ball after an Obeng throw had been initially repelled.

Phil Parkinson’s Wrexham do the same when a Tozer projectile is cleared, with an added twist. Tozer doesn’t conform to the traditional image of a centre back. He’s played a fair amount of his career as a midfielder, and in the three games where he filled that position in the 2021-22 season, he showed that he wasn’t merely a player who would sit in front of the defence. He drove forwards purposefully and was able to play penetrating passes through the opposing defences.

His ability to use the ball effectively, and his comfort on either foot, meant he remained a serious threat even if his long throw didn’t immediately amount to anything. When we won that second ball on the edge of the area, every player knew exactly where Tozer was.

He’d hold his position on the flank, and his team mates knew they could ping the ball back over to him immediately without even thinking about it.

That meant we could capitalise on Tozer’s qualities on the ball. Get it back to him quickly and he’s able to whip a good cross in with either foot; work him in a little later, when there are team mates around him, and he can combine intelligently, working the overloads and creating opportunities for others to get behind the opposing defence.

We didn’t score as many goals directly from Tozer’s throws as the season before, but we scored a lot by getting the ball back to him on the wing.

The closest to Ben Tozer that I can recall in the last 20 years or so is Andy Holt. An aggressive, forward-thinking left wing back, Holt would have fitted into the current set-up well!

He would probably have had to play second fiddle with his throws, though, which carried an ominous threat as they speared into the near post.

He didn’t get the distance that Tozer achieves – who does? – but he had a similar flat trajectory which reduced the time defenders had to get under the ball, and created the threat of a mistimed jump leading to a centre back inadvertently flicking the ball into the danger area as the ball skids off their head.

The way some people talk about long throws, you’d think there was something inherently wrong with them. That’s nonsense, as is the peculiar notion that somehow the current Wrexham team are a long ball team because we use the long throw.

We’re not a route one side: we don’t play for long throws. It’s just another method we have of breaking an opposing defence down, and the more we have of those the better.

Throughout our history we’ve had players who could lob a long throw into the mix; Tozer is merely the most recent, and the best, proponent of a rare and special skill.