Offside question

[Richyb]

My apologies if this is a basic question, but I’m just learning the rules of the game.

Offside is when “a player is offside in open play if that player is in front of a team mate who is carrying the ball or who past played it.”

My question is, when somebody kicks the ball up field, any player, who was behind the kicker at the time of the kick, upon running past the kicker, who doesn’t them self chase the ball, puts themself in a position where they are now in front of a team mate who last played the ball. By the letter of the law they themselves would become offside by definition.

Why are they not considered offside.

Thanks.

 

[crossref]

What a great question!

The law should really say

player is offside in open play if that player is in front of a team mate who is carrying the ball or who last played it (...at the moment when the teammate played it)

 

[Balones]

What crossref says is correct.

 

[Richyb]

Thank you for the swift reply. That makes a lot more sense now.

The current rule would almost suggest that the kicker would always have to chase the ball down in order to keep his teammates onside and to allow them to progress upfield.

I was quite baffled for a while : )

 

[crossref]

It's great when someone reads the Laws fresh, and pays attention to what they actually say. We old timers just see what we expect to see

 

[Phil E]

Its a fair question and I can see how you could be confused.
I would also suggest not reading parts of a law in isolation, as that can cause confusion. You need to read the whole of a law to get the feel for what the lawmakers are trying to achieve.

Have a look at the diagrams that accompany Law 10 and you can see how an onside player can move forward to put other offside player, onside. He wouldn't be able to do that if moving forward then put him offside.

NB: the only daft question is the one you didn't ask

 

[jdeagro]

It's great when someone reads the Laws fresh, and pays attention to what they actually say. We old timers just see what we expect to see

Heh so true. I've honestly read the book front to cover at least 25 times now, yet this was such a simple observation by the OP that I never thought of. Sometimes over-analyzation results in overlooking the simply obvious.

 

[jdeagro]

In that regard, is it safe to interpret the "who last played it" part to still be referring to the "teammate" earlier in the sentence? I.e. it doesn't mean an opponent who last played it as well.