Growing up as a young footballer, you envisage announcing yourself with a stoppage-time winner, a thunderous strike from 30 yards or a miraculous save. Not a throw-in.
That was how former Stoke City midfielder Rory Delap — Chelsea striker Liam Delap’s dad — built one of the Premier League’s most unlikely reputations, and how a Huddersfield Town academy graduate has now gone viral.
Delap transformed one of football’s most mundane procedures into a genuine attacking weapon and Stoke scored 25 goals from his deliveries across his four-year stint with the club in the top flight.
It defined his career and legacy — even his Wikipedia profile photo is of him with ball in hand rather than at his feet.
Brentford’s Michael Kayode caused chaos with his long throw in the Premier League last season too, but that was nothing on what Huddersfield’s Max Murray appears to be capable of.
A pre-season friendly against League Two Fleetwood Town on July 21 on England’s North West coast, watched by a sparse crowd, would not normally catch The Athletic’s eye. Thanks to Murray, it has.
The 19-year-old defender, a lifelong fan of the club, made his first senior appearance on the final day of last season, coming on in the 91st minute of Huddersfield’s 4-0 win away to Wimbledon.
Murray arrived last summer from West Yorkshire rivals Bradford City and had a successful season within Huddersfield’s youth setup, where his under-21 team won the Premier League 2 Professional Development League play-offs. He signed a contract extension this summer, and has been part of the first-team squad’s pre-season.
Murray was introduced as a half-time substitute at Fleetwood as a right-back before showcasing his superpower in the 70th minute. He had only taken one of his side’s previous throw-ins from the halfway line but as the ball went out of play high on the left wing, he trotted over.
Wearing the 29 shirt, he gripped the ball with his right hand and wiped it clean, as Huddersfield’s defensive cavalry arrived in the opposition penalty area.
He then began his action, springing to his left, pacing three steps and bending his body to the right, unleashing a spinning, quick delivery.
The ball landed in the middle of the six-yard box, on the head of fellow young defender Ian Togo, but the American’s deft header went wide.
“It’s a fantastic throw”, Thomas Gronnemark, a former throw-in consultant at Liverpool, Brentford and Arsenal (last season), tells The Athletic. “He gets good flight and generates spin, which can be a difficult skill to master.”
A video posted on X by Huddersfield fan account Huddersfield Town Frontline captured Murray’s throw from directly behind him, the view from the stands bringing to life the throwing action and sheer trajectory of the ball from the perfect angle.
Despite his team-mates being unable to capitalise, the video, posted the day after the game, amassed over three million views in 24 hours, and was reshared over multiple platforms and accounts on Instagram and TikTok.
The width of Fleetwood’s Highbury Stadium is 71 yards, meaning Murray’s throw was in the air for approximately 36 yards, five short of Delap’s average but still 14 yards over what data site Opta class as a long throw.
Excitingly for Huddersfield fans, Gronnemark says Murray’s action can develop further.
“He is standing pretty still on the line when he releases the ball, and I would not recommend the curved approach he takes to his run-up,” he says. “But not many players can naturally throw this far, and, to me, the fact it did not lead to a goal was more on the strategy in the box (of his team-mates) than his delivery.”
In the Premier League, the share of attacking throw-ins has been on the rise for the past four seasons, with 13 per cent of throw-ins in the final third played into the penalty area last season.
If Huddersfield can utilise Murray’s talent, they will add an attacking element League One sides could struggle to combat.
“When teams get it right, long throws can be seen as more threatening than corners by the management team, even at Premier League level”, Gronnemark says. “You don’t have to buy long-throw players, you can create them, and Murray has a world-class starting point.”
Huddersfield, under the US ownership of Kevin Nagle, have spent big in League One terms in recent seasons — but an academy product could give them a huge boost in their promotion charge this season. With his throw.
