When the Football Association drafted the Laws Of The Game in 1863 it stated that no forward passes were allowed at all unless the ball was hit from behind the goal line. It only becomes one if the player attempts to touch the ball after it has been played forward by a team-mate. A player was considered offside unless three players of the opposing side are in front of him (includes goalkeeper). That means that if any part of the attacking player that can legally score a goal is closer to the goal than the second-to-last player of the defending team then the attacking player is offside. Let’s take a look at the history of the offside rule. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The offside rule originated in 1863. A player is onside if he is level with the second-to-last player of the opposing team (includes goalkeeper). The Offside Rule – 1863. Scottish Football Association referee Steven McLean explains it all for us here by talking through the exact amendments to the old rule... Will the new rule be confusing for supporters? A law similar to offside was used in the game of hurling to goals played in Cornwall in the early seventeenth century: "Our job will never be easy, by any matter of means, but certainly there will be more offside situations, so hopefully this will give us more situations which will be in line of the expectations of the players, so it will be more consistent.". Are you able to give an example of a goal that would have been disallowed last season but will now stand? How do you see these changes affecting the game going forward? Referee Steven McLean explains how the offside rule will be different next season, Hamilton 'surprised' Petrov named a steward, Arteta hails 'brilliant' Partey's first start, Gerrard: Roofe goal the best I've seen live, Robshaw among 12 Baa-Baas to put England game in doubt, Next season a player will be given offside if they make a play for the ball, even if they do not touch it, Stevie May's goal for St Johnstone against Hearts wouldn’t have stood under the new offside rules, We would like your feedback, please fill in our survey. Can you give a brief explanation of the change in the law? When the Laws Of The Game were amended in 1866 a compromise was found, with the Cambridge Rule adopted with the change that ‘at least three players’ were needed rather than ‘more than three’. It was played by a different set of rules depending on where you went to school or where about in the country you lived. Even though the rule has changed a couple times, many still have issues with the rule. Some say making an offside call is impossible and feel that FIFA should change the rule again.
There are often slight changes to the offside rule as the game’s governing body attempts to keep up with the speed and advancement of the game. These stated that a player was not allowed to touch the ball if he was standing in front of it, similar to the rules imposed in rugby nowadays. “No, it’s a simple change really to interfering with an opponent.".

So what is the difference this season to the previous campaign?
Let’s take a look at the history of the offside rule. “That was allowed as a goal last year – correctly – but this year it will be penalised as offside.”. Even minor changes to offside have massive implications, because it is the rule that really sets the parameters of play and where players can be. This stretches that by about 12 feet.

“This is better for us, better for football, better for the supporters. The offside rule was changed again in 1990. Grab your salt shaker and your pepper pot, we’re about to delve into the confusing world of two men behind the ball and interfering with play.

In 1990 an amendment was made to the offside rule to declare that a player was onside if they were level with the penultimate opponent that they faced. Why and when was it introduced? In order to prevent this, the offside rule was born. The offside rule was changed in 1925. Before the formation of the Football Association and an attempt to formalise the rules of the game most universities and even school played by the Cambridge Rules. A player was considered offside unless three players of the opposing side are in front of him (includes goalkeeper). So this tweak to the offside rule should be good for football? A player cannot be offside if he is in his own defensive half of the field. Even during the early years of soccer, the problem with players “goal hanging” was evident.

“Yes, there was a situation last season in the Scottish Cup I believe – St Johnstone versus Ross County – John Beaton was the referee and the attacker was in an offside position and made an obvious action which impacted on the goalkeeper’s ability to save the ball. Recently an amendment was made to the rule that stated a player could be offside if he ‘interfered with play’, as an example. With the new season comes another change to the offside rule. So in the above diagram, the player with the ball is considered offside because only two players are in front of him.

In 1925 the rule changed to ‘two opponents’ rather than three and a marked increase in the amount of goals scored occurred. The following season this rose to 6373 goals from the same number of matches.