Offside Rule Explained

Welcome to Offside Anonymous, a secret support group for avid football fans who, despite years of service to watching the game, still aren't exactly sure what that weirdo checkered flag man did everytime your team was about to score. The following is a guide to understanding the offside rule...

Here's the easy part. An offensive player cannot be ahead of any defensive player on the pitch, as so:

The hard part, though is that the offensive player can indeed be ahead of any defensive player if, once the ball is kicked, he rushes ahead of the defense and receives the ball:

The key is: watch the ball!

The ball determines the offside line.

No offensive player can ever be ahead of the ball.