From the 2025/26 season the National League have introduced a multiball system for all clubs, and for all League fixtures.
The new system will start from the first League game of the season on August 9th.
The IFAB Laws of the Game state: “Law 2.3: The Ball – Additional balls which meet the requirements of Law 2 may be placed around the field of play and their use is under the referee’s control.”
There will be 10 match balls allocated for each fixture:
- One ball in play
- One ball with the fourth official
- Eight balls distributed around the pitch
The eight balls will be placed on cones around the pitch next to a ball retriever – split as two along either touchline and two either side of each goal.
The use of the multi-ball system would be managed by the referee and – if deemed necessary – the multiball system can be deactivated for the remainder of the fixture.
If an additional ball enters the field of play during the match, the referee will stop play only if the additional ball interferes with play. The referee shall have the additional ball removed at the earliest opportunity.
As announced earlier this week, all Enterprise National League clubs will be using the Mitre Ultimax match ball for the coming season following the launch of our new partnership with Official Match Ball provider Mitre.
