The Rules of Soccer are called Laws, there are 17 Laws in the game of Soccer, everything has a law. The pitch, the ball, the players and their equipment. Even the Referee, Law 5, and the Assistant Referee, Law 6. We won't get into all the laws here, this would take up too much room. What we will try to do is explain the basics and some signals you might see the referee making.
| Soccer 101 |
The Field - Law 1 |
In short, the ball is in play until it has completely crossed a goal line or touch line, or the referee has stopped play. The ball is still in play if it has struck a referee, goalpost or flag (see picture).
The Players (Law 3) and Formations
There is usually 11 players per team on the field, they are defenders, midfielders, forwards and 1 Goal Keeper. Formations are described in numerical terms, which specify the number of players in each area.
A goalkeeper is a given, so formation numbers do not account for the keeper.
The 1st number refers to the defense, with each successive number moving
towards the halfway line.
For example, we might play a 4-4-2 alignment. This breaks down into: 4 defenders, 4 midfielders & 2 forwards. There are also 3-4-3 or 4-3-3 formations. Each would break down as follows:
3-4-3: 3 defenders, 4 midfielders & 3 forwards.
4-3-3: 4 defenders, 3 midfielders & 3 forwards.
Probably the easiest to understand, A throw-in is awarded to a team after an opponent has kicked or knocked the ball completely over the touch line (or side line). In awarding a throw-in, the linesman will point his flag in the direction that the throw should be taken. The Referee will raise his arm in the direction that the throw should be taken.
The throw-in is taken by a player who must:
- have part of each foot either on the touch line or on the ground outside the touch line
- uses both hands while throwing the ball from behind and over his head (no twisting)
This player can not touch the ball again until it has been played by another player on the field.
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| AR Throw-In Signal |
A goal kick is awarded to the defending team when a member of the other team has kicked the ball over the defending team's goal line (the lines where each goal is located), and has not scored a goal. The linesman, stationed on the touch line (or sideline) of the field, will point across the field towards the 6 yard box (goalkeeper's box) in front of the defending team's goal.
Restart for a goal kick:
- The ball is kicked from any point within the goal area by a player of the defending team.
- Opponents remain outside the penalty area until the ball is in play.
- The ball is in play when it is kicked directly beyond the penalty area.
The kicker can not touch the ball again until it has been played by another player on the field.
AR Goal Kick Signal A corner kick is awarded to the opposing team when a member of the defending team kicks the ball over its own goal line (the end of the field where the goals are located), and has not scored a goal. To signal a corner kick, the referee will point towards the corner from which the kick should be taken.
AR Corner Kick Signal- The ball is placed inside the corner arc at the nearest corner flagpost.
- The corner flagpost is not moved.
- Opponents remain at least 10 yds from the corner arc until the ball is in play.
- The ball is kicked by a player of the attacking team.
- The ball is in play when it is kicked and moves.
The kicker can not touch the ball again until it has been played by another player.
A Direct free kick means that the team taking the kick can score directly off the kick - it does not need to touch another player (from either team) before entering the goal. A Direct kick is to be taken from the spot where the foul occurred unless any of the direct kick offenses (see below) occured in the penalty box. If the foul occurs inside the box, a penalty kick is awarded and is taken at the penalty kick spot (see the field diagram above).
A Direct Free Kick is awarded for the following offenses : (Law 12)
-kicking or attempting to kick an opponent;
-tripping or attempting to trip an opponent;
-jumping at an opponent;
-charging an opponent;
-striking or attempting to strike an opponent;
-pushing an opponent;
-tackling an opponent to gain possession of the ball, but makes contact with the opponent before touching the ball;
-holding an opponent;
-spitting at an opponent;
-a player other than the goalkeeper handling the ball deliberately
The goalkeeper:
-takes more than six seconds while controlling the ball with his hands, before releasing it from his possession;
-touches the ball again with his hands after it has been released from his possession and has not touched any other player;
-touches the ball with his hands after it has been deliberately kicked to him by a team-mate;
-touches the ball with his hands after he has received it directly from a throw-in taken by a team-mate;
All players:
-play in a dangerous manner
-impede the progress of an opponent;
-prevent the goalkeeper from releasing the ball from his hands;
-commit any other offence for which play is stopped to caution or dismiss a player;
For example, assume that Player A has broken by a defender, who kicks out but catches Player A's leg instead of the ball. However, Player A maintains her balance and moves forward quickly beyond the defender; the Referee may acknowledge the foul but allows play to continue, recognizing that if he blows the play dead, the offending team will be able to regroup. The referee does have the authority to stop play and award a free kick if the anticipated advantage doesn't materialize (within a few seconds).
The advantage is clearly with the kicker, but so is the pressure. The goalkeeper must remain on the goal line until the penalty kick taker has struck the ball. Until a few years ago, the keeper was actually required to stand still until the kick was taken (generally, the referees would allow some movement). Although allowing the keeper to move left and right adds some assistance, the advantage is still clearly with the penalty kick taker.
A player is shown the yellow card if he commits any of the following seven offenses:
- is guilty of unsporting behavior
- shows dissent by word or action
- persistently infringes the Laws of the Game
- delays the restart of play
- fails to respect the required distance when play is restarted with a corner kick, free kick or throw-in
- enters or re-enters the field of play without the referee’s permission
- deliberately leaves the field of play without the referee’s permission.
- A player who removes his jersey or covers his head with this jersey when celebrating a goal must be cautioned for unsporting behaviour.
A player, substitute or substituted player is sent off and shown the red card if he commits any of the following seven offences:
- is guilty of serious foul play (in the opinion of the referee)
- is guilty of violent conduct
- spits at an opponent or any other person
- denies the opposing team a goal or an obvious goalscoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball. (this does not apply to the goalkeeper.)
- denies an obvious goalscoring opportunity to an opponent moving towards the player's goal by an offense punishable by a free kick or a penalty kick
- uses offensive or insulting or abusive language and/or gestures
- receives a second caution (yellow card) in the same match.
Offsides seems simple in concept, but it really is difficult to accurately judge.
Basically, offsides means that one or more members of the offensive team is closer to the defending team's goal line than both the ball and the 2nd to last defender ... when the ball is played forward. The goalkeeper normally counts as the last defender, so focus on the last field player on defense. If one of our players is closer to the opponent's goal line than the opponent's last field player, without the ball, she is offsides.
The difficult part of calling offsides is that the Referee and Linesman have to watch both the ball and the players. Offsides occurs when the ball is played forward and not before, so a referee needs to judge the position of the players when the ball was played forward. Keep in mind that older players can kick the ball greater distances, which means that sometimes the ball may be 30-50 yards behind the frontline players.
A player can be offsides but play isn't stopped; if, in the referee or Linesman's opinion, the player in the offside position isn't gaining any advantage or interfering with the play, play will continue. An easy example would be Sara on the far left side of the field in an offsides position but the ball is on the far right side of the field. She cannot affect the play so play continues.
There are situations when a Player cannot be offsides:
-In his own 1/2 of the field. As long as the player stays on his side of the field, he cannot be offsides, even if all 11 of his opponents are hanging around his goal.
-Directly receives the ball from a goal kick. The ball was already in front of him, so it wouldn't matter how many defenders are between him and the opponent's goal when he received the ball.
-Directly received from a throw-in.
-Directly received from a corner kick.
The Linesman, located on the touch line, will signal an offsides violation by stopping across from the point where offsides occurred and raise his flag straight up in the air. Once the referee has made the call (it is the referee's decision to stop play),
The Linesman will signal where offsides occurred by pointing his flag in one of three positions:
- 45° Up: On the far side of the field
- Parallel to ground: In the middle of field
- 45° Down: In the near side of the field