Question Number: 29840

Law 11 - Offside 10/21/2015

RE: select Under 13

Marc of deptford, nj usa asks...

If an attacking player is beyond the 2nd to last defender and passes the ball to a teammate who is also beyond the 2nd to last defender, is it offsides?
I was told once the attacking player with the ball is beyond the 2nd to last defender he can pass it to a teammate who is also in an offside position.Is this true?

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

A player who is no closer to the opponent's goal line than the ball at the time it is touched or played by a teammate is onside.

Offside position requires all three elements: (1) in the opponent's half; (2) closer to the goal line that the second last defender; AND (3) closer to the goal line than the ball.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Marc,

Offside requires the player to be nearer the opponent's goal line by both the second last line of defence AND the ball at the time the ball is last touched by a teammate (note that the direction the ball is played irrelevant - even a pass backwards can result in an offside flag if a player in an offside position runs back to retrieve the ball!)

So when they're past all the defenders, it comes down to whether the 2nd attacker is in front of the ball or not. To remain onside, the player would have to ensure he is not in front of the ball at all. Considering how difficult it can be to judge offside, it's up to you if you would want to coach your player to remain perfectly square or slightly behind. But he would want to be in front.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Marc
Not true and a myth. Offside applies at all time in the attacking half so the 2nd attacker MUST remain in an onside position to participate in play. How does he do that? As there is no 2nd opponent present to place the team mate in an onside position then the only possible onside position available is BEHIND the ball. If the team mate goes beyond the ball he is in an offside position and offside will be called if he interferes with play or with an opponent.
The coaching point is that when attackers break beyond the defenders the player/s without the ball must watch the ball to ensure that they do not go beyond the ball placing them in an offside position.
Have a look at this video
https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=1m51s&v=U01-uArNpdw
Note how the Blue scorer stays behind the ball and in an onside position. If the scorer was to go ahead of the ball he would then be in an offside position and could not get involved in active play.