Question Number: 26428

Law 11 - Offside 6/7/2012

RE: Competition Under 13

Wayne Green of Sydney, NSW Australia asks...

During a recent girls U12 game, 2 attacking players were clearly in an offside position between the goalkeeper and the last defender. A high ball was put through by the attacking team towards the defenders goal and the last defender tried to head it but it came off the back of her head and one of the attacking players took the ball and put it into the goal. The referee called this a valid goal and went on with the restart of play.

For me this should have been called offside through gaining an advantage from being in an offside position. Should the goal have been allowed?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

In the pros, a header that goes in an unintended direction is usually still considered to be a play of the ball that resets offside.

In a youth game, I'd generally consider it to be a deflection and would agree with you, it should be offside. I'm saying that not having seen the play in person. There may have been other factors that the referee took into consideration in making the decision.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Wayne,

By your description it sounds like the attackers should have been penalised for offside. The reasoning is as you state - 'gaining an advantage from being in an offside position' is defined as collecting a deflection from an opponent, crossbar or goalpost.

An uncontrolled play at the ball certainly falls within this category, and for a clearly failed header like this where the ball deflects off the back of the head, I would expect this to be penalised at any level - but in terms of determining whether the defence has miscontrolled the ball, or controlled it and made a bad pass, we're more likely to give a bit more benefit of the doubt in these lower ages.

It sounds to me like the referee in question misunderstands certain aspects of Law 11. It may be benefecial to contact your local referees association, just to inform them of the incident so they can ensure that all referees are properly educated in this regard.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The referee needs to make a judgment whether the defender's heading of the ball was a 'play' that resets offside position and makes the attacker's eligible to play the ball or a 'deflection' which does not. It is common for defenders to head the ball back to the goalkeeper.

At the youth and amateur level, a bad header usually will be considered a deflection. We don't know what the referee saw or judged.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Wayne
At this level a mis header is not control and it does not reset offside. At the Pro level depending on the circumstances it could be deemed to be a reset but not at underage.
Indeed I know many referees who are of the opinion that a header is not suitable control of the ball and they will call offside for gaining an advantage by being in that position on a header that goes askew to a player in an offside position.