William (Bill) McCracken (29 January 1883-20 January 1979)  is widely considered to have invented the offside trap during a successful spell at Newcastle United between 1904 and 1924. The Belfast-born full-back became so adept at employing the tactic of stepping up to catch attackers offside that he infuriated fans, opponents and officials, even provoking a pitch invasion on one occasion. William McCracken was born in Belfast on January 29 1883 and won 13 international caps, seven against England. He joined Newcastle from Belfast Distillery in 1903 as a full-back and won two League Championship medals and also appeared in three FA Cup finals in four years collecting a winner's medal in 1910. The “McCracken Plan" or the "one-back” tactic frequently maneuvered attackers into offside positions even if meant McCracken having to stand on the halfway line. His tactics as a player with the Magpies caused the FA to change the offside law in 1925.  McCracken was later manager of Hull City, Gateshead, Millwall and Aldershot, and as a scout at Watford his biggest success was bringing a young goalkeeper called Pat Jennings to the club. The FA made a special presentation to McCracken in January  1978 for his part in the offside revolution which reduced the number of players required to be between the attacking side and the goal from three to two.