Offside - is it worth the hassle?

Quoted from golfer

When I was at school our centre half used to stand on the goal line smoking a Woodbine with the goalie  - so nobody was ever offside     P.S.  It was a posh school so the teacher told him off - for not using an ash tray.

I went to a posh school too, but we smoked fags at the football. It was a centuries old tradition. That is until the bloody do-gooder social workers turned up and stopped it when one of the fags ended up in hospital.

Quoted from golfer

When I was at school our centre half used to stand on the goal line smoking a Woodbine with the goalie  - so nobody was ever offside     P.S.  It was a posh school so the teacher told him off - for not using an ash tray.

I went to a posh school too, but we smoked fags at the football. It was a centuries old tradition. That is until the bloody do-gooder social workers turned up and stopped it when one of the fags ended up in hospital.

Indirect story about being offside.

Playing Football at Mablethorpe Primary School in the freezing, bitterly cold winter of 1963.  Wearing only shorts and a thin top.  No gloves in those days.

The chill northerly winds blowing straight off the North Sea.  The only thing stopping it since leaving Siberia was a group of skinny kids.  No fat kids then either.

We shivered and hated the cold.  Probably illegal now.  Made Blundell Park look like the Bahamas for a midweek night match.  

As soon as the PE teacher went to get a cup of hot tea we went to hide in the very long grass along side the pitch. Anything to escape the chill wind.

No one was offside as no one was on the pitch. We ran out when we saw him coming back.

They should use the same rule as when the ball is over the line.

The whole of the ball must have crossed the line so the whole of his body should be offside not just his toe or his hand.

Quoted from Madeleymariner

I think the offside rule needs changingb so the marker is more like 30 yards from goal rather than halfway line, might open it up a little more but wouldn't get silly, also easier for the linesmen to keep up.

If we adopt that approach I would advocate offside only beyond the 18 yard line which would extend to the full width of the pitch. VAR made offside in particular too clinical and your big toe being offside is hardly gaining an advantage so as some others have said I would go with clear daylight between the respective players. In reality there were less then a handful of howlers every season and the linesman are surprisingly good so for me scrap VAR which has introduced far more controversy to decision making and reduced the quality of the spectacle.