What is the offside law?
The offside law was created with the formation of the Football Association (FA) and the publication of its laws in 1863. The rule prohibited any attacking player from being in front of the ball when it was kicked forward. The offside law was created because the sport then resembled forms of rugby, with similar tactics and players allowed to use their hands to control the ball in some circumstances. “Offside” means unfair. The attacking players are assumed to be gaining an undue advantage by being ahead of the ball when it is played forward. Offside is still intrinsic in modern rugby union and its retention as a principle in football was keenly advocated when the FA was drawing up its 1863 laws. The idea was to stop attacking players occupying positions close to the opponents’ goal and merely waiting for a ball to be played forward to score. The prevalent tactics of the English upper-class teams of the time were instead to assemble up to eight forwards attacking en masse, by...