Offside is a concept used by several different team sports, particularly field sports such as football, rugby and field hockey.
Typically it is a rule preventing players from getting an unfair attacking advantage.
The application of the rule is usually to regulate aspects of player positioning. Its application and enforcement can be complicated and can sometimes be confusing for new players as well as for spectators.
The word 'offside' comes from a military term for a man trapped behind enemy lines, where he is said to be "off the strength of his side". Offside rules date back to codes of football developed at English public schools in the early nineteenth century. These offside rules were often much stricter than in modern games. In some of them, a player was "off his side" if he was standing in front of the ball. This was similar to the current offside law in rugby, which penalizes any player between the ball and the opponent's goal. By contrast, the original Sheffield Rules had no offside rule, and players known as "kick throughs" were positioned permanently near the opponents' goal.
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