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October 27[edit]

Midfield flags (soccer)[edit]

Watching matches from long ago, even major competitions like the World Cup, in addition to the classic four flags at the corners of the pitch, there were two more at the extremes of midfield. What function did these two flags have. Thank you very much. 93.41.96.25 (talk) 11:51, 27 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

This is just a wild guess, but in the olden days pitches were not maintained as well as they are today, and I can recall the pitch sometimes becoming so muddy that you would need those flags to determine where the centre line was supposed to be. Shantavira|^{feed me} 12:18, 27 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Our article Football pitch says: The intersections between the half-way line and the touchline can be indicated with flags like those marking the corners – the laws consider this as an optional feature.. So, one can use them, but doesn't need to. --Ouro (blah blah) 13:36, 27 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Which is useful for determining Offside as a player cannot be offside in his or her own half of the field. Xuxl (talk) 14:46, 27 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]