Under the original laws of 1863, it was not possible to be offside from a throw-in; however, since the ball was required to be thrown in at right-angles to the touch-line, it would have been unusual for a player to gain significant advantage from being ahead of the ball. After the ball was permitted to be thrown in any direction in 1877, the very next year (1878) a new law was introduced to allow a player to be offside from a throw-in. This situation lasted until 1920, when the law was altered to prevent a player being offside from a throw-in.