| Revision as of 14:58, 25 February 2003 editCferrero (talk | contribs)493 edits Added rugby offside rules← Previous edit | Revision as of 18:10, 25 February 2003 edit undoBagpuss (talk | contribs)566 edits removed rugbyNext edit → | ||
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| ====External links==== | ====External links==== | ||
| *http://www.burtrandworld.co.uk/offside-rule.php | *http://www.burtrandworld.co.uk/offside-rule.php | ||
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| ==The offside rule in Rugby Union == | |||
| Offside rules in ] are particularly complex to the casual observer. Often the only indication that they have been infringed occurs when the referee blows their whistle. This, therefore, is only a basic attempt to explain offside in the context of rugby union. | |||
| In open play, a player is offside if they are either in front of a team mate who is carrying the ball, or in front of a team mate who has kicked the ball. An offside player cannot participate in any further part of the game until they become ''onside'' again. If an offside player ''does'' participate in the game, for example by playing the ball or obstructing an opponent (by ''loitering'') then their team will be penalised. | |||
| In any other part of play (scrums, rucks, mauls or line outs), a player is offside if they are in front of the ''off-side line''. This is an imaginary line parallel to the goals which runs through the hindmost foot of the hindmost player in the ruck/maul/scrum. Any player joining a ruck/maul or scrum from in front of the off-side line is offside and his team will be penalised. | |||
| ====External links==== | ====External links==== | ||
Revision as of 18:10, 25 February 2003
In football, a player is offside if he is in an offside position when the ball is played to him by a teammate. A player is in an offside position if he is in his opponents' half and has fewer than two opposing players (including the goalkeeper) between himself and the opposition goal (these players would be playing him onside), unless the ball is also between him and the goal. Any players he is in line with can also play him onside.
The offside rule means a player who is offside is committing a foul, unless he is deemed to be not interfering with play. In particular, a goal may be disallowed because a player was offside during set up. The penalty is an indirect free-kick taken from the place the offside player was standing.
In enforcing this law, the referee depends greatly on his assistants (also known as linesmen), who generally try to keep in line with the last defender (not counting the goalie).
The offside rule is often cited in the UK as something women are unable to understand. However, many men also have a shaky grasp of the law.
History
The rule was introduced in ???? to stop the practice of having players hanging around upfield in the hope of getting a ball kicked to them from their team-mates. The original formulation was fairly different from today:
- Before 1990 a player could not be played onside by someone he was in line with.
- Before 1925 it took three players to play a man onside rather than two.
The offside trap
The offside trap is a defensive tactic, for which Arsenal are particularly famed. If an attacking player is making a run up the field with another player ready to kick the ball up to him, then the defenders will move up-field, putting the attacker offside.