Trying to explain the offside rule to football beginners can be difficult and frustrating. Whether it’s to a loved one or to a young child, sometimes it seems to be an impossible job. But the tedious task is no more thanks to the Royal Mint, who have produced a new 50p coin to commemorate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The design – by production journalist Neil Wolfson – is available as part of the 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,’ the Royal Mint coinmakers website explains.

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

Mr Wolfson added that he hoped people like the coin, saying: ‘I hope it starts conversations and people are able to [use it] to describe what the offside rule is.’

And there was me thinking that it was offside when the pepper pot is in front of the brown sauce bottle!