Premier League tells ball boys and girls to stop returning balls to players

Ball boys and girls will no longer be able to throw the ball straight to players – Getty Images/David Price

Premier League ball boys and girls have been ordered to stop throwing the ball back to players during matches, amid concerns that the “multi-ball” system is giving home teams an unfair advantage.

Updated ruling states that players must now collect a ball from the nearest cone, rather than receive one thrown to them.

“Ball assistants” as they are know in the Premier League handbook are no longer allowed to even be positioned next to the cones during matches. The league hopes this will make it clear to players that they must fetch the ball themselves during games.

The change means that a goal such as Divock Origi’s famous strike for Liverpool against Barcelona in 2019, when Trent Alexander-Arnold took a quick corner after being thrown a ball by a ball boy, will not be possible in the Premier League.

As part of the change, an additional four balls will now be on the touchlines during matches. The ball assistants will be tasked with returning a ball to a vacant cone whenever a replacement is used.

Earlier this month, Coventry City manager Mark Robins apologised for celebrating in front of a 13-year-old ball boy at the end of his side’s dramatic FA Cup victory over Wolves.

Robins had said he was “really annoyed” by the ball boy, who had earlier dropped a ball during stoppage time. Gary O’Neil, his opposite number, said Robins had acted “disgustingly”.

And earlier this season, Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno was seen shoving a ball boy during his side’s defeat at Bournemouth.

Marco Silva, the Fulham head coach, said at the time: “He wanted to play quick and the ball boys were … I don’t know who gave instructions to them for them to always hold the ball and to delay the [restart of the] game…

“OK, we were losing, he ran towards the ball. I didn’t see him push the ball boy. He touched the ball boy, he didn’t push the ball boy – they are different things. I’m not English but I know the difference between one word and the other. We have to say the truth.”

Bernd Leno interacts with a ball boy at Bournemouth

One of the most famous incidents involving ball boys took place in 2013, when Chelsea’s Eden Hazard kicked a ball boy during a League Cup match at Swansea City.

Hazard was attempting to retrieve the ball from under the ball boy, who had fallen on top of it.

The ball boy in question, Charlie Morgan, has since become a successful businessman and recently reunited with Hazard at an event to promote his drinks brand.

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