Question Number: 24970

Law 11 - Offside 5/17/2011

RE: girls varsity High School

paul of milwaukee, wisconsin usa asks...

My mid fielder kicks a long shot on goal.
The keeper trys to catch it in the small
box but falls and does not hold on to the ball.Two of my players are in position to retrieve the dropped ball and work together
and score a goal from in the small box.
is this a goal?

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Whether this is a fair goal is impossible for us to determine without viewing the incident.

It's possible that the keeper is fouled in the scramble for the ball, but apart from that the other likely possibility I can think of that would result in a goal being disallowed is a potential offside issue.

The way I read this, the keeper has never had control of the ball - this means that if the player who retrieves the ball was in an offside position when the ball was last touched by your midfielder, he should be penalised.

It's also possible for the player who doesn't touch the ball at this point to be penalised for interfering with an opponent, if the referees feels that he was putting immediate pressure on the keeper (or was in his way as he was trying to recover the ball).

Also, if one of the two striker recovers the ball and passes it to his teammate, that's a new scenario where offside may be a possibility.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Hi Coach. Need some more information. When the long shot was taken, were either of your 2 players in an offside position? Doesn't sound like the keeper controlled the ball so if either of your players were in an offside position when the ball was played by their teammate and then touched the ball after the keeper batted it away, that would be offside.

Let's assume they were both onside when the long shot was taken. You say they work together. What does that mean? I'll call them Player A and Player B. Let's say Player A gets the ball last touched by the keeper. Where is Player B? Is she nearer the opposing goal line than both the ball and the second to last opponent? If she is, she is in an offside position and if she remains so when Player A passes her the ball, she cannot play it or she'll be offside. But suppose Player B is onside and Player A passes the ball. Now we have to look at Player A's position if Player B passes her the ball.

And on and on.

Short answer: if neither player ever in an offside position when ball last touched or played by a teammate, it's a goal.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Paul
It is not possible to give an answer based on your description and the only person that can answer is the referee.
There can be a host of reasons why a goal can be disallowed here such as offside, foul on the goalkeeper, playing in a dangerous manner, challenging the GK in possession of the ball etc.
The goal area has no particular place in law other than for the determination of the location for goal kicks, free kicks and dropped ball. Inside the area the GK has no special privileges and all the Laws apply as normal.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

It is a goal, unless there is a reason that the goal should be disallowed.

Did the attacker players do something that caused a keeper in possession to drop the ball? If so, the goal could be disallowed because they interfered with a keeper in possession of the ball. High schools place special emphasis on protecting a keeper in possession of the ball.

Was the player who scored in offside position at the time of the original shot. A player in offside position who plays the ball after it deflects off the keeper will be offside, and the goal will be disallowed.

Was the player who did not score in offside position at the time of the original shot. A player in offside position who interferes with the keeper's ability to see or play the ball will be offside, and the goal will be disallowed.