The offside rule is possibly one of the most difficult to understand rules in football, mainly because it is never described simply, so understanding it can be intimidating to kids.

However, we are now at the point where we have to try our best to make our young team understand – so here’s a simple guide to explaining the offside rule as clearly as possible!

If we could sum up the rule in one line, it would be this;

"Being offside occurs when a player goes behind the line of opposing defenders before the ball has been kicked to them."

Of course, there are a lot more elements to the rule, but that is a good place to start!

It might also help to explain exactly why the offside rule was invented; it was made to stop lazy players lingering around the goal and waiting to score.

There are three conditions that must be met before a player is classed as offside:

1. The attacking player must be in the opponents’ half of the playing field.
2. The attacking player must be closer to the goal line than any defending player.
3. The attacking player must be ‘in play’ – so either playing the ball or interfering with the
goalkeeper.

Understanding Further
Once the basics of the offside rule are understood, there is a little bit more, because a player is not offside by simply standing in an offside position:

The player in the offside position must actually touch the ball by having it passed to them before they are declared to be in violation of the rule, they are also in violation if they prevent another player from the opposing team from touching the ball. This is classed as “Interfering”.

The offside rule also doesn’t count in the following situations:

a) Directly after a corner kick.
b) Directly after a throw-in.
c) Directly after a goal kick.

Basically, any instance where the ball has gone out of play.

After Being Offside
If the referee determines a player has committed an offside offence, the opposing team is awarded an indirect free kick, it is the same concept as a regular free kick, but the ball must be passed to another player before scoring a goal.

Avoiding Being Offside
When the team has a good grasp of when a player is offside, they can be introduced to tactics for avoiding being declared offside, for example:

A player is not offside if they have not crossed the line of defenders until the attacker has passed the ball – they can then sprint to receive the pass on the other side of the defenders.

This may be complicated, but it’ll be a great advantage when they hang of it!