The offside rule in soccer is one of the most controversial and least understood laws of the game. In fact, here’s an experiment you can try at home; invite a friend who has absolutely no soccer knowledge at all to watch a game. Chances are he or she will pick up the basics quickly, the soccer uniforms help them to figure out who is who on the pitch, and the basic premise of the game of soccer is childishly simple; score a lot of goals while preventing the opposition from scoring any. But give it a few minutes a whistle will blow and you will be forced to try and answer the question “why was that guy offside? What the heck is offside?” in a way that your soccer challenged buddy might possibly understand. I’ve been there a thousand times, and think I’ve finally come up with a straightforward explanation: