The Ohio State University: College of Education and Human Ecology

Offsides Rule – 3

The Offside Rule – 3

The third offside principle of the offside rule states that you cannot be in an offside position if you are on your own defensive half of the field, regardless of where the ball, or the defenders are. In this instance, the offside line isn’t imaginary – it’s the half field line! No matter where you are on your own defensive half, you are onside.

A full field shows all players, on both offense and defense, on the same half of the field. There are 2 blue X’s on offense and they are “past” the second-to-last defender, or red O’s and the ball. They are not offside because they are on their own defensive half of the field, and “behind” the half field line.

Lastly, the offside rule is not enforced if you are the direct recipient of a throw in, or goal kick. Once the ball is touched by anyone on the field as a result of either of these restarts, regular offside rules apply.

Other examples of the third tenet of the offside rule:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GePlbCsGniA video with additional explanation of the tenets of the offside rule.