| Revision as of 18:10, 25 February 2003 editBagpuss (talk | contribs)566 edits removed rugby← Previous edit | Revision as of 18:11, 25 February 2003 edit undoBagpuss (talk | contribs)566 edits OopsNext edit → | ||
| Line 21: | Line 21: | ||
| ====External links==== | ====External links==== | ||
| *http://www.burtrandworld.co.uk/offside-rule.php | *http://www.burtrandworld.co.uk/offside-rule.php | ||
| ====External links==== | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
Revision as of 18:11, 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.