After the EFL announced a rule change prohibiting players from drying balls with towels, Wrexham fans have come up with a solution for long-throw extraordinaire Ben Tozer.
There were a number of standouts for Wrexham last season as they marched to the National League title with 111 points. Paul Mullin, who recently won Wrexham’s Player of the Season award, was certainly one of them, as he scored an incredible 47 goals including 38 in the league.
Another was defensive stalwart Ben Tozer. The club captain came third in Wrexham’s Player of the Season poll, and will undoubtedly play an integral role in League Two next season.
Long throw-ins have been used to devastating effect by Phil Parkinson’s side
One of Wrexham’s most potent weapons last season also came courtesy of Tozer. The towering centre half became synonymous with the long throw-in, which he used to great effect.
Tozer would often launch the ball into the ball from throw-ins, essentially turning them into a set-piece routine. They usually caused havoc in the opposition box and often directly led to goals.
One of the ways Tozer is able to get such a good grip on the ball is by using towels. Tozer, including many other players up and down the football pyramid, have frequently used pitch-side towels to dry the balls when they go out of play in order to be able to throw the ball further.
Wrexham fans come up with ingenious solution to Ben Tozer towel ban
However, the EFL is introducing a rule to ban the use of towels, and is introducing a multi-ball system, similar to what we have in the Premier League, to increase the time the ball is in play.
Wrexham fans obviously caught wind of this rule change and feared the worst for Tozer’s long-throws. However, they have come up with an ingenious way around the rule, and it includes producing oversized ‘scarves’ that will not just keep fans warm during winter, but also double up as towels for any nearby throw-ins.
One fan shared several images of the scarves in response to a post about the rule change. He wrote: ‘Prototypes are in for the new @Wrexham_AFC 23/24 (definitely not a towel) supporters scarves. Free for all fans in Row 1&2. Get them to @tozer_ben when it’s raining.’
The fan also tagged Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in the post to try to get them on board.
What the man himself has said about it
Tozer spoke about the rule change after it was announced. He joked that the EFL was trying to ‘ruin his career’, but maintained there will still be ways around it.
“I might have upset someone in the EFL because they’re trying to ruin my career. I nearly had to hand my retirement straight away,” he joked.
He went on: “I understand it because some people see it as anti-football, but it’s part of football. Throw-ins are just like a corner or a penalty, they are set pieces.
“We had a bit of an advantage but there are ways around everything and I’ve got the shirt that I’m wearing. I can still dry the ball with that.
“I’m sure there will be other ways around it as well but it’s just one of those things you just have to get on with.”
It seems these ‘scarves’ have already solved the problem.