Soccer 101: That Damned Offside Rule

Bum, dum, DDDUUUUMMMMMMM! The offside rule in soccer is - after Cristiano Ronaldo - the hardest thing to explain to new fans. It involves what every novice enjoys: A long, fumbly explanation with a lot of qualifiers. Just when a new soccer player thinks they understand it, the person explaining it adds "But only if ..." and inevitably has to resort to visual aids. But have no fear, I shall be clear and concise with my explanation.

THE OFFSIDE RULE

Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney
attacking while defenders protest for offside

In its simplest form, the offside rule exists to stop an attacking team from gaining an unfair advantage. With only 22 players on such a large field, it would make for an uninteresting game if a team could just plant one player without the ball two yards from the goal and play long balls up the field to him. In other words, the offside rule attempts to ensure the attacking team cannot have players without the ball closer to the goal than the opposing team's defenders.

Play will be stopped for offside if the situation meets two criteria:

1. A player without the ball is in an offside position when the ball is intentionally touched or played by another member on his team
2. The player is deemed to be "active" by the referee (often on the advice of his assistant)

Note that it is not strictly illegal for a player to be in an offside position, only if he is both in an offside position and active in the run of play (often determined by touching the ball).

Offside position
A player is in an offside position, if he is closer to his opponent's goal than BOTH the ball and the second to last defender (the often goalkeeper being the final defender).

A player is NOT in an offside position if:

• He is in his own half of the field of play, or
• He is level with the second to last defenders, or
• He is level with the last two defenders
  

Being "active"
A player may be considered "active" by the referees if he is:

• Interfering with play, or
• Interfering with an opponent, or
• Gaining an advantage by being in that position

Please note that a player may be level with the second to last defender when the ball is played by a teammate and then receive the ball in an offside position, but will still have not broken the offside rule.

Exceptions
To complicate matters further, a player cannot be offside if he receives a ball directly from a goal kick, throw in, or corner kick.

How it normally looks during the game
Many teams operate an offside trap at least once during a match. When operating the trap, the back four defenders keep a straight line across the field and step up right before the attacking team attempts to play a ball into space behind. This action often renders the recipients of the through ball in an offside position, and if the timing is correct, play will be stopped and the attack quelled. On the other hand, attacking players work hard to time their runs off the ball in order to receive a ball behind the defense without committing an offense. Far too often, it is a matter of inches, and the officials have only seconds to decide whether or not a player has violated the offside rule.

Got all that?

No?

Well, crap. That wasn't as concise as I would have liked it to be. Oh well. If you're still confused, watch this video. It has fun music, pretty pictures, and a Scottish narrator.

Tomorrow on Soccer 101: Why is that Guy Rolling on the Ground?