AT 4.25pm last Saturday at Gresty Road, Crewe, I became conscious that I had an acute headache.

This was not due in any part to over-indulgence on the previous evening, neither had I been the victim of incessant nagging from my nearest and dearest.

It was simply a legacy of prolonged concentration, ensuring that a fast and evenly fought Division One fixture was not settled by a dubious offside decision.

It is the interpretation of Law Eleven that preoccupies assistant referees in the build-up to the game, for its duration, and in the post mortem afterwards.

Not our degree of involvement in fouls. Not our handling of the benches. Not our man-management of players.

Some argue that changes to this Law have made our job harder. I do not agree. Sure we have had to learn to delay to flag to interpret interference. But the crux of the matter is that human frailty prevents a continuous accurate assessment of offside.

In other words it is not physically possible to watch the ball being played and avert one's gaze sufficiently quickly to be sure of the correct decision. And if it's tough for us with all our experience and training, what chance the reluctant volunteer on the local park? There is more dissent arising from club linos flagging for offside than any other facet of the game.

So I've found the solution. Scrap offsides. Nobody has yet been able to give me a reason why we couldn't. We could concentrate on assisting the referee in match control whilst the play would be spread over a wider area and would thus become more open and attractive. If you can think why we shouldn't at least experiment with my idea, I'd love some feedback.

As long as they don't halve my match fee of course . . .