New system is being introduced at Step 7 of the National League System.
Players up and down the country are set to benefit from an FA decision to bring parity to the suspension system currently employed at grassroots level.
Players within Step 7 of the National League System (NLS) will this season be using the match-based discipline system currently in operation at Step 5 and 6.
In addition, a further six leagues outside of the NLS will enter a pilot phase that will see the introduction of match-based suspensions, replacing the currently employed day bans.
Therefore from the start of the 2009-10 season the entire NLS will be operating on a match-based disciplinary process.
Presently, players below Step 6 of the NLS are banned for a period of time rather than a specified number of matches. This can mean a player receiving a red card for abusive language – resulting in a 35-day ban – misses any number of games within that period, which can be particularly severe during busier times of the season.
Mark Ives, The FA's Disciplinary Manager explained: "For years people have been asking why it is that a player gets sent off in the Premier League and gets a one-, two- or three-match suspension, while a player at grassroots level who commits the same offence has to sit out for five weeks.
"They say that can’t be fair and they’re right. For the last few years we have wanted to address the problem and now we are.
"Three years ago we trialled it at Step 5 and Step 6 and it worked remarkably well. They now work under the match-based guidelines. Now we want to go even further and bring the rest of football into line.
"From the start of the 2009-10 season, Step 7 of the National League System will also be operating this match-based discipline.
"What we could have done is left it there, but we were unhappy with that. If it was unfair for the Step 7 players last season, it has got to be unfair for everyone on the Sunday parks too.
"We want to be as fair as we can across the board and our intention is to be able to introduce this right the way through open-aged football."
Six leagues will pilot the scheme including four Saturday leagues - the Suburban League, the West Riding Amateur League, the Cambridgeshire Saturday League and the Herefordshire & District Saturday League. Two Sunday leagues - the Bedford Sunday League and the North Home Counties Sunday League - will also test the scheme during the forthcoming season.
