London 2012: Limited edition 50p coin explains the offside rule

It’s one of the Beautiful Game’s perennial talking points – but now you can explain football’s offside rule using nothing more than the back of a 50p coin.

The limited edition coin, produced to commemorate the London 2012 Olympics and designed by production journalist Neil Wolfson, demonstrated the often impossible-to-explain rule with a brilliantly simple diagram.

The 50p piece is available as part of a collection of 29 new coins this year, which features each sport of the Games.

“Neil Wolfson designed his coin in the hope that it would encapsulate football in a simple image,” explains the Royal Mint website.

“As the offside rule is a perennial talking point, the image is designed to provoke discussion, which was what he was aiming for.”