Stoke City favourite had unique weapon and he goes down in English Football folklore: View | OneFootball

For the majority of the 2010s, Stoke City were an established Premier League side.

They would spend ten seasons in the top flight of English football, having been promoted in 2008 and relegated in 2018.

The Potters have stagnated in the Championship since their relegation, only achieving finishes in the bottom half of the table.

With their failures, they have spent a lot of money in order to regain their Premier League status, which has hindered the club financially.

But Potters fans will be hoping they can one day replicate what Tony Pulis did 16 years ago when he took them to the Premier League for the first time.

However, whilst they managed to achieve playing in the top flight, managing to stay there for as long as they did was even more impressive.

But that was because Pulis managed to get the best out of his players, but that did not always mean using the players’ talents with the ball at their feet.

He saw something one day that would help Stoke stay in the Premier League for the first few seasons, and it would go on to live on in English Football folklore - Rory Delap’s throw-ins.

Rory Delap’s hidden ability found out by chance

Delap’s ability to throw the ball 30-40 yards was not found out until the summer of 2007, just after he joined, following a training session.

According to Pulis (speaking on the Under the Cosh podcast), some of the Stoke squad had a competition to see who could throw a football the furthest.

One of Pulis’ coaching staff called him over and asked him to watch how far Delap could throw the ball.

Pulis asked him, and it turned out that Delap was county champion in Cumbria when was 14 at javelin.

Pulis went on to say that his throws were so flat, that he saw them as more of a threat as a set piece than corners, and thus his long throw-ins began.

Rory Delap’s throw-ins made him an icon of the English game

Delap’s throw-ins would then become a staple of Stoke’s play. They would regularly try and get throw-ins, with other teams purposely trying to avoid conceding them.

The first goal that came directly from a throw-in was in September 2007, when Richard Cresswell scored from it in a win over Queens Park Rangers.

After promotion to the Premier League in 2008, Delap’s throw-ins would continue to cause problems.

Seven of Stoke’s first 13 goals in the first tier were credited as assists from Delap’s throw-ins, showing how vital he was to them doing well.

In one bizarre incident against Hull City, their goalkeeper chose to put the ball out for a corner instead of a throw-in, such was the chaos Stoke were causing from Delap's long throw.

Former Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari would label it as ‘fantastic’ and ‘effective’, whilst West Ham United manager David Moyes once referred to Delap as ‘the Human Sling’.

Delap’s throw-ins would continue to cause problems until he left in 2013, having made over 175 league appearances for Stoke.

The former Irish international is now forging a coaching career and is currently assistant manager to Robbie Keane at Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv.