Help! please could you explain the offside rule?

Question

IM A WOMAN WHO ABSOLUTELY ADORES FOOTBALL BUT IN ALL THE YEARS I'VE BEEN WATCHING IT, I STILL HAVENT MANAGED TO UNDERSTAND THE OFFSIDE RULE.
PLEASE HELP!!

Answer 1

In preparation for the World Cup, the "offside rule" explained for women:

You're in a shoe shop, second in the queue for the till. Behind the shop assistant on the till is a pair of shoes which you have seen and which you must have.

The female shopper in front of you has seen them also and is eyeing them with desire. Both of you have forgotten your purses. It would be rude to push in front of the first woman if you had no money to pay for the shoes.

The shop assistant remains at the till waiting.

Your friend is trying on another pair of shoes at the back of the shop and sees your dilemma. She prepares to throw her purse to you.

If she does so, you can catch the purse, then walk round the other shopper and buy the shoes!
At a pinch she could throw the purse ahead of the other shopper and "whilst it is in flight" you could nip around the other shopper, catch the purse and buy the shoes!

BUT, you must always remember that until the purse has "actually been thrown", it would be plain wrong for you to be in front of the other shopper and you would be OFFSIDE!

Answer 2

Offside Rule For Women

Answer 3

First and foremost I have to say Duskydawn10 that is a fantastic explanantion.

Here's a more indepth explanation - probably not much help if you were after a laymans term understanding.

Law 11, the offense of Offside is one of the most difficult and contentious decisions a refereee or his assistant has to make during a game of soccer.
It is a matter of judgement and opinion usually taken in a milli-second during a high speed movement in a game.
There is no simple way to explain the rule other than by reading and digesting the regulations.
LAW 11 -OFFSIDE

Offside Position:
It is not an offense in itself to be in an offside position.
A Player is in an offside position if:
He is nearer to his opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent.

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 last opponent
OR
He is level with the last two opponents.

THE OFFENSE:
A Player in an offside position is only penalised if, at the moment the ball touches or is played by one of his team, he is, in the opinion of the referee, involved in active play by:
Interfering with play
OR
Interfering with an opponent
OR
Gaining an advantage by being in that position.

When is a player regarded as being "actively involved in play?"

Interfering with play means playing or touching the ball passed or touched by a team mate.

Interfering with an opponent means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent's line of vision or movements or making a gesture or movement which, in the opinion of the referee, deceives or distracts an opponent.

Gaining an advantage by being in an offside position means playing a ball that rebounds to him off a post or crossbar or playing a ball that rebounds to him off an opponent having been in an offside position.

If a player is nearer to his opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent. The position of any part of the player's head, body or feet will be the deciding factor and not the player's arms.

NO OFFENSE:
There is no offense if a Player receives the ball directly from:
A goal kick
OR
A throw-in
OR
A corner Kick

SANCTIONS

For any offside offense, the referee awards an indirect free kick to the oposing team to be taken from the place where the infringement occurred
Now you understand what the offside offense is, you'll be certain the referee made the wrong decision - when he allowed an 'offside' goal against your team to stand.

Answer 4

Not a bad analogy, although it does have a few flaws: 1. The shopper in front of you is not a defender, but an attacker in her own right. She is not working with the assistant to stop you from buying the shoes; she is trying to score the shoes first. In fact, if there was a call to make, the assistant would be the referee! 2. Neither of them is attempting to take your purse away from you. Although the assistant is of course trying to take the money inside it. 3. You're not trying to get your purse past the assistant either. Throwing or kicking it at the shoes wouldn't be a very effective means of completing the transaction. Unless, of course, in doing so, you knock the shoes off the shelf, they pass over the barcode reader, followed by your credit card, which conveniently falls out of the purse and through the swipe machine in the process! 4. What happens if both shoppers get to the sales counter at the same time? You're not offside, but you don't have dibs on the assistant. 5. When you think about it, the assistant is behind the line, not in front of it, so you're offside even if you're behind the other shopper! 6. What if it was your friend who really wanted to buy the shoes, and you happened already to be at the counter making your own purchase, and the other shopper was behind you? Would you be offside if your friend tried to get past her, or would you be ruled as not interfering with play? 7. What happens if you get into a catfight with the other shopper over the shoes? What foul gets called in that case? Do you both get the red card?

Answer 5

Offside happens whren one player passes the ball to another one, who stands behind the last defender of the opposing team. The offside does not happen if the player receiving the pass stands on his own half of the field

Answer 6

Ok, the offside rule is that lets say its Italy vs. U.S. lets say an Italy midfielder kicks the ball to another Italian player on the side of the opposing team, The player the ball is being kicked to has to be behind the U.S defenders at the time of the kick.

Answer 7

When the ball is played, there must be a player of the opposing team in front of you, if there isnt then that is considered offside - even I dont understand it!

Answer 8

The only way to understand this ficticious rule is to read the rule book to get a feel for what the rule should be then throw it away and watch how the referees obliterate the rule book. No two referees ever call this rule the same.

Answer 9

If a team are attacking and two players are going to race for the ball from a passer of the attacking team, the striker isn't allowed a head start over the defender.

Answer 10

Yes,when a striker is heading towards goal and the linesman puts his flag up....that's offside lol