Wrexham: EFL's throw-in towel ban could 'ruin my career', says Ben Tozer
- Published
Ben Tozer made 51 appearances for Wrexham last season
Wrexham defender Ben Tozer insists long throw-ins are not "anti-football" following moves to curb their use from next season.
The English Football League (EFL) has banned players from using towels to dry match balls for throw-ins.
Instead, the EFL will introduce a multi-ball system to all its competitions for the 2023-24 season to increase the time the ball is in play.
However long-throw expert Tozer joked the rules were jeopardising his career.
"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 said.
"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."
Wrexham travel to the United States for the first time next month for a pre-season tour that includes a glamour tie against Manchester United in San Diego on 25 July.
They return to host MK Dons in League Two on Saturday, 5 August in their first EFL fixture for 15 years following promotion from the National League.
Tozer said Wrexham were already eying the Welsh derbies against Newport County at the Racecourse on 23 December and Rodney Parade just four weeks later on 20 January.
Newport beat Wrexham for a place in the football league when they won the play-off final at Wembley in 2013 and knocked them out of the FA Cup in their last meeting in 2018.
"There's obviously history there, the history of the play-off final defeat and things like that so it will be a great rivalry," said Tozer, who spent two seasons at County between 2016 and 2018.
"They [Newport] are trying to improve on last season and we're a team trying to kick on and progress.
"We respected every opposition we played last season and will do the same again next season. Just because we won the league it doesn't mean we've cracked it.
"It's going to be even harder so we're going to push even harder but we've got that team morale, team spirit and it's an exciting time for the club. You never know where it could take us."