Nike have revealed the official Premier League winter match ball for the 2019/20 season. The Hi-Vis Merlin, which will come into play when the clocks go back at the end of October, is inspired by the first-ever Hi-Vis ball to grace the Premier League back in the 2004/05 season – the Total 90 Aerow – and we're very much okay with that.
This is the first time in the Premier League's history that the Hi-Vis match ball will have a different design to the regular season Merlin, and it adopts the exact same yellow and blue colourway as one of the most iconic Premier League balls of all time, the Total 90 Aerow. In a nod to the iconic heritage of the Total 90 Aerow football, a “T90” logo features on one of the panels of the new Premier League Hi-Vis Merlin. It'll launch on pitch in Premier League fixtures from 25 October.
We haven't even got to the best part yet. To celebrate the launch of the new Hi-Vis Merlin, a limited number of Hi-Vis Total 90 Aerow footballs will be reissued, with the exact same detailing and specifications of the original – featuring 26-panel hand-stitched construction combined with texture flash casing. These replicas, which come in a commemorative box, will be available from November 8th and will be numbered out of 600.
The re-release celebrates 20 years of partnership between Nike and the Premier League, and is the second in the series after the limited-edition Geo Merlin ball was released in August. Expect to see Nike continue that trend throughout the season.
Pick up the Nike Merlin Hi-Vis 2019/20 Premier League match ball at prodirectsoccer.com
