The National League has announced Mitre as its Official Match Ball Partner in a three-year partnership kicking off from the 2025/26 season.
The deal will see every fixture across the National League, National League North and National League South playing with the Mitre Ultimax Match Ball.
As a brand underpinned by its mission to support and champion football at all levels of the beautiful game, this new partnership will equip players across all 72 clubs in the National League with the elite level Mitre Ultimax Match Ball.
Complimenting Mitre’s existing relationship with the FA competitions including the Emirates FA Cup, Isuzu FA Vase and Isuzu FA Trophy, with many National League clubs also competing in many of these prestigious tournaments.
To mark the new partnership, Mitre has crafted a bespoke Ultimax match ball. The design features The Enterprise National League’s revitalised brand identity and logo, with a palette of deep blue, striking red, and flecks of silver. Taking centre stage is the new title sponsor, Enterprise, with its logo integrated seamlessly into the design, symbolising a new era for one of football’s most cherished competitions.
A standout design feature is the 72 intricate dots that wrap around the ball, each one representing a club within the league structure, a tribute to the unity and diversity of the National League structure.
The Ultimax range is engineered with performance at its core and tested and accredited to the FIFA Quality Pro standard, guaranteeing elite-level excellence. Packed with innovation and features, it delivers a visible difference that players can feel – a true testament to Mitre’s legacy of quality and precision.
Built from decades of knowledge, it features a unique four-panel design, reducing seams to create a larger sweet spot. This innovation ensures maximum power, improved control, and a better connection with every strike.
The ball is thermally bonded with HyperSeal technology, ensuring superb shape retention, durability, and zero water absorption. Its Hyperflow debossed grooves have been specifically designed for inflight stability, ensuring consistency across all speeds of play. Inside, the Hyperfoam elastic cushioning offers optimal power, close control, and a responsive touch.
Speaking about the new partnership, Simon Rowe, Senior Vice President of Mitre & Global Sports Marketing at Pentland Brands said: “Partnering with The Enterprise National League marks an important milestone for our brand. It will allow us to significantly increase the number of players in the grassroots and semi-professional English football tiers that get to play with our exceptional Mitre products and experience the elite quality equipment that they deserve.
“Bringing Mitre and The National League together aligns brilliantly with our Mission to support and champion football at all levels of the game, we can’t wait to kick off the new season with The Enterprise National League and its players.”
Jon Warburton, Head of Commercial at The National League says “Mitre is a one of the leading brands in the market. Their brand is iconic and strikes a chord with football fans across the country and we’re delighted to have them on board as our Official Match Ball partner.
“We are continuing our drive to partner with brands that can help us develop connections with our clubs, fans and their local community. Welcoming a partner of Mitre’s calibre is a huge next step in that journey.”
The Mitre National League Ultimax Pro Match Ball will be available from mitre.com from early September.
The National League have also introduced a multiball system for all clubs for all league fixtures, starting from the 2025/26 season.
With the start of the new season little over a month away on August 9 a multiball system has been put in place for clubs competing across all three Enterprise National League divisions.
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.”
From this season 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.
