'I was 31 before people started to ask me about the throw, I don’t know what I was good at before that, but it must have something!' Rory Delap explains how his throw-in morphed into a psychological assault in the Barclays era

For a brief, chaotic period in the late 2000s, the most terrifying sight in the Premier League wasn't a Cristiano Ronaldo step-over or Fernando Torres sprint. It was a 32-year-old Irishman drying a ball with his vest.

Rory Delap didn’t just play for Stoke City; he turned the Britannia Stadium into a bear pit. A former schoolboy javelin champion, Delap possessed a long throw so flat, fast, and impossibly rhythmic that it defied modern physics. It wasn't a set-piece; it was a psychological assault.

Before becoming the protagonist of the "Rainy Night in Stoke" era, Delap was a respected, if unassuming, versatile midfielder. He broke through at Carlisle United, earned a £1.2m move to Derby County, and became Southampton’s record signing at £4m in 2001. He was an 'honest pro': fit, disciplined, tactically sound.

But under Tony Pulis at Stoke, his latent superpower was weaponised. Following a horrific leg break in 2006, Delap returned to help the Potters to promotion in 2008. Then, the madness began.

How did it feel to help Stoke become an established Premier League team?

Rory Delap: The owner and the manager have to take a lot of credit, because Stoke were stuck in a rut in the Championship, but they made a decision to put money in without going stupid.

Tony Pulis recruited a team of characters who would fight for everything and fit in with how Stoke wanted to be viewed – tough and hard to beat, but we could play.

Peter Crouch, Jermaine Pennant, James Beattie, Matty Etherington and Kenwyne Jones were all very good footballers. People think it was all set plays and throw-ins. It wasn’t.

When did you first realise you could throw the ball a really long way?

RD: When I was playing for Carlisle’s youth team. I used it at every club during my career, but in different ways – at Stoke it only became notorious because we had eight or nine players who were 6ft 4in and very brave.

But I used it at Carlisle, Derby and Southampton under Gordon Strachan – he used to like it if I threw it as high as possible, so the opposition couldn’t clear it. I used it for Ireland too.

Is it true that you were a talented javelin thrower as a kid?

,RD: I got really good at 800m and javelin – I competed at county level and cleaned up in javelin. I think my personal best was 55 metres when I stopped at 14 or 15 and football took over instead.

You became Southampton’s record signing in 2001, switching from Derby for £4m. How was the expectation?

RD: Everyone was looking at me to be the one, but I was playing right back. It was tough at first, then when Gordon Strachan took over, I found myself out of the team.

He saw me playing in a different position – Gordon put me in midfield, and I ended up playing 400 games there, so he knew something!

You signed for Sunderland midway through the season when they would finish bottom of the Premier League with a then record low 15 points, before heading to Stoke on loan…

RD: I’d signed for Sunderland under Mick McCarthy, who I’d worked with playing for Ireland. Four or five games later, he got sacked – it was tough there.

My time at Stoke didn’t start well – I broke my leg in my second game, playing against Sunderland. It was October, and at that point there’d only been a gentleman’s agreement that I’d sign permanently in January.

But the gaffer Tony Pulis, CEO Tony Scholes and owner Peter Coates came to the hospital and said that they were still going to sign me permanently. I’ve always remembered that.

What were the weirdest ways that teams tried to stop your long throws?

RD: West Ham and Burnley brought the advertising boards in. We had towels to dry the ball, and teams would get ballboys to throw them into the stands.

Hull put it out for a corner rather than a throw-in – by that stage, we’d scored more goals from corners than throw-ins! Dean Windass was the funniest one. He started warming up in front of me and managed to get a yellow card!

Do you hope people don’t forget that you could kick the ball pretty well too?

RD: I would never have played nearly 600 games if all I could do was throw it. I’ve never been one to praise myself, but I was 31 before people really started to ask me about the throw.

I don’t know what I was good at before that, but I must have been good at something.

You became Robbie Keane’s assistant at Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2023, winning the Israeli Premier League, before you combined to bag the Hungarian title with Ferencvaros last season.

RD: Great experiences. It was a tough job in Israel because of the situation there, but we’d both been out of work for quite a while. They reached out, and it was a great opportunity to coach in European competition.

Winning the league and cup was something I’ll never forget, and again in Hungary when we went there in January. It was hard to get across the way we wanted to play, to understand the players and staff, but everyone was brilliant.

Robbie’s a great man manager. I’m sure he’ll go on to bigger and better.

It was reported that you were both forced to hide in a panic room in Tel Aviv, during the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023?

RD: The reports were blown out of proportion. When we first went there, looking at apartments, they said, “This is a safe room”.

Every new building, every shop, cafe or restaurant has one. When the alarms go off, you go into the safe room for around five or 10 minutes, then come back out and carry on with your day.

It was a strange experience, but the players and staff were great with us during that time.

Was it hard leaving Ferencvaros in the summer, even though Robbie stayed?

RD: It was tough as they had Champions League qualifiers, but I’d been away from home for nearly two years, and family comes first sometimes.

It’s allowed you to watch your son Liam play for Chelsea, as well as your other son Finn at Burton…

RD: They’ve come through in very different ways. Liam left Derby for Man City at 16, but Finn was released by Derby at 16.

I like to think me and my wife instilled a work ethic in all our kids, which has got them this far. My daughter’s got herself a job and is working hard at that, too – I’m immensely proud of them.

We went to watch Liam in the Club World Cup in the US, and I went to Tranmere recently to watch Finn – it was called off for a power cut! It’s not always glamorous, but I wanted to take a break from work to watch and spend time with them.

You played for Ireland, and they’re keen to call up Liam, even though he’s played for England through the age groups. Will you offer him any advice on which country to choose?

RD: I’ve always stayed out of it – he’s been involved with England since he was 13 or 14, and they stuck by him when he had an injury at 14. He’s spoken to people in both camps, but it’s entirely his decision.

If he ever wants my advice, I’ll give it to him and him only – and the same with Finn if ever has to make a decision.

Delap has teamed up with bookmaker William Hill for their prediction game Final One Standing this season