SFA got on the right side of offside law after WW1

THERE have been some difficult times recently for the SFA.

Rather surprisingly, I am not going to jump on the bandwagon of criticism but will take this opportunity to offer the association some praise for work they did take part in.

The only problem is that the achievement being recognised occurred a very long time ago.

After the First World War, when the full football programmes restarted in both Scotland and England, it was noticeable that much of the play was becoming bogged down by defensive tactics, particularly the use of offside.

At that time, the wording of the law was much the same as today, except that to be onside a player had to have three opponents between himself and the opposing goal.

Now, full-backs are always the most intelligent players in any side and it was four of these defenders – Morley/ Montgomery of Notts County and Hudspeth/McCracken of Newcastle – who used the law to catch opposing players offside.

Their idea was copied across the country with the result that the number of goals being scored dropped dramatically.

The lack of goalmouth action was obvious.

Eventually, the authorities decided something needed to be done.

The FA then arranged a trial match at Highbury between a team of amateurs and one of professionals, with one half being played under the ‘three-man’ law and the other half with the number reduced to two.

They were apparently pleased with what they had seen and decided that the ‘two-man’ solution was the answer.

But it was the SFA who put it forward to the International FA Board (IFAB).

The Board ratified the change and the new Law went into operation at the start of season 1925-26.

It was an immediate success and the number of goals went up considerably.

The coaches and secretary/managers running the clubs at that time were not happy though. Their teams were letting in too many goals and a new system came in. Instead of the 2-3-5 formation, in place since the late 1880s, with its attacking centre-half, teams now switched to the W/M formation, with the centre-half in place. The goal-scoring rate dropped but at least the coaches were pleased! It changed the game.