Why does the offside rule exist in football?

Steve, I agree with you about the universality of football but IMO getting rid of the offside rule would only increase its appeal (if that's possible!). Regarding booting the ball up the field to a striker near the goal, I think people would soon find out that wasn't a particularly reliable way of scoring and revert to proper attacking moves with plenty of passing. After all, even the best players can't hoof the ball 70 yards up the field with the degree of accuracy required for it to meet their striker waiting by the goal mouth (not to mention that said striker is unlikely to be left alone by the other team) .

Michael.

 

IMO What they need to get rid of in the off side rule is the aspect that only the receiving player can be off side. Just make it a blanket any player ahead of the line of defenders is off side irrespective of whether he is the player the ball is intended for or not. This just allows players to pull defenders away from the guy that may be the intended reciever so the fact that they are not recieving the ball doesn't mean they are not creating an unfair advantage to the attacking player. Which was one of the main reasons for the rule in the first place. On top of stopping goal hanging of course.

GTM

 

That's how it always used to be before the recent 'interfering with play' nonsense.

 

You're all wrong chaps. The off side rule is:
A player is offside if and when 1 or more Man Utd players raise their arms in appeal for offside.This rule will apply for all teams except the aforementioned Man Utd.

Bob