Encroachment
An infringement in which a player enters a restricted area or crosses a required line before play is legally allowed to begin.
Definition
Encroachment occurs when a player fails to respect the minimum distance or boundary the rules require until play restarts — for instance, standing too close to a free kick, or moving into a restricted zone before the ball is in play. The offence is about acting too soon or too close and interfering with a fair restart.
The term is most formal in American football, where a defender who enters the neutral zone and makes contact before the snap is penalised for encroachment. In football (soccer), opponents must retreat a set distance from free kicks, corners, and penalties, and moving inside that distance too early can force a retake; entering the penalty area before a penalty kick is likewise policed as encroachment.
Meaning by sport
This term is used differently across sports:
- American football
- A defender entering the neutral zone and making contact with an opponent before the snap.
- Football
- Entering the required distance or the penalty area too soon at a restart, which can force a retake.
Where you’ll hear “encroachment”
Sports that use this term:
Explore across the knowledge base
Follow the threads that connect Encroachment to the rest of SocialSportHub.
Positions
- GoalkeeperThe goalkeeper is the last line of defence in football and the only player allowed to handle the ball inside their own penalty area.
- Centre (netball)The centre is netball’s link between attack and defence, the only player allowed in every third except the two goal circles, and the player who takes the centre pass.
- PivotThe pivot is a handball attacker who plays close to the opposition defence, setting screens and looking for chances near the goal area.
Tactics
- Zone defenceA defensive system where each player guards an area of the court rather than a specific opponent.
- The forecheckHow a hockey team attacks in the opposition's defensive zone without the puck — the 1-2-2, 2-1-2 and trap approaches, and what each one risks to win the puck back.
- Neutral-zone play and the breakoutThe 15 metres between the blue lines where most hockey possession is decided — how a breakout moves the puck out of the defensive zone, and why zone entries are so contested.
Rules
- Penalty kick awardA one-on-one kick against the goalkeeper awarded when a defending player commits a direct-free-kick foul inside their own penalty area.
- Throw-inThe method of restarting football when the ball fully crosses a side line, taken by throwing it back into play.
- Out-of-court play in padelThe rule that lets a padel player leave the court to keep a rally alive — when it is authorised, what the court must provide for it, and why it depends on the safety area.
- How a point is lost in padelThe actions that end a padel rally — the second bounce, touching the net, direct contact with the opponent's enclosure, and the neutral-zone exception on the court doors.
- Badminton serve rulesThe rules for how a badminton serve must be delivered and where it must land.
Go deeper with Encroachment
Everywhere else on the platform that covers Encroachment — assembled from what actually references it, so nothing here is a dead end.
Take it away
Open data and the whole-platform view of this subject.
How this page is maintained
- Content type
- Term
- Provenance
- Tier A — evergreen educational
- Verified external sources
- 0
- Content updated
- 2026-09-01
Evergreen, first-party explanation — it makes no claim that needs an external source. How we handle sources and reviews.