Question Number: 2746

Other 11/19/2001

RE: Adult

Rob meredith of havant, england asks...

can a player be off side from a goal kick its states in rules.no. but he can if it's he's own team mate..can you tale me why that a player got to be ten yards away for .a direct free kicks but a goal keeper got to be 12 yards.for a same kick penalty

Answer provided by Referee Dawson 11/19/2001

Hi Rob, ..As you stated, in the rules it says you can not be penalised for being in an offside position on a goal kick from either team.. .It does seem strange as you can be offside on free kicks but it is an exception to the rule. ..You can stand in front of the other teams goal on your goal kick and if your teammate could kick that far and you got the ball and scored you would have a good goal. Heck of a kick though. ..As to why players must be at least 10 yards (keep in mind this can be as little as 6 yards for indirect kicks in the goal area) away and the PK is 12yds. I do not know why that yardage was chosen originally. Perhaps one of my colleagues knows. Cheers

Answer provided by Referee stewart 11/21/2001

Here is some of the reasoning as to why it is 12 yards on a penalty. The Penalty Kick was first introduced to football in 1891. The laws then stated that the kick could be taken anywhere on a line 12 yards from and parallel with the goal-line. The goalkeeper was allowed to move off his goal-line but could not be any closer than 6 yards. All other players had to be behind the penalty taker at least another 6 yards. This then gives some reasoning as to why the goal area is 6 yards, the penalty spot is another 6 yards (making it 12 yards from the goal-line) and the penalty area is another 6 yards from the penalty spot (making it an 18 yard line). The arc at the penalty area was introduced many years later to ensure that the players were now 10 yards from the taker.