The offside rule in football was invented to stop goal-hanging

The original Cambridge Rules of 1848 required three opponents between an attacker and the goal; the current requirement of one (typically the goalkeeper) was adopted in 1925 after the two-opponent rule caused goal-scoring to plummet in the early 1900s as teams deployed 'stopper' centre-halves. The 1925 rule change led to an immediate explosion in goals — the Football League average jumped from 2.5 to 3.7 per game in one season. The modern offside rule, with its VAR interpretations and millimetre margins, bears little resemblance in complexity to its original intent: stop a player standing next to the goalkeeper waiting for a pass.

Source: Cox, The Mixer: The Story of Premier League Tactics (2017)