That was the challenge set by the BBC PM programme – well, they said a tweet, but of course it had to be a limerick too.

This was my first effort:

If one player passes the ball/Going forward the others must all/Be behind the passee/To ensure he or she/Gets the old referee’s offside call

That met with protests from @gfkw47 and @mrblawton, who felt it was inaccurate. Well, OK, it should have said “all except one”, but I wasn’t counting the goalie. Which of course you have to. And it’s a bit misleading as I’m using “behind” to mean behind the direction of the pass, rather than the direction in which the defending team is playing. So I tried again:

It’s not really tricky at all/The player receiving the ball/Must have 2 more ahead/& can push on instead/Of receiving the ref’s offside call

@mrblawton concedes that’s closer – but is it good enough?