Nike Launch Limited Edition Re-Make of Classic Geo Merlin Premier League Match Ball

Nike has launched an official limited edition run of the classic Nike Geo Merlin match ball to celebrate the brand’s 20-year partnership with the Premier League.

The Geo Merlin was the very first ball that Nike provided for the Premier League in the 2000/01 season and it remained in use until the updated Geo Merlin Vapor was released in 2002.

Image by Jamie Spencer

Only 600 of the limited edition ‘like-for-like re-make’ of the Geo Merlin will be released globally.

It was said to be the ‘roundest’ ball every made when it was first released in 2000, owing to the Geo 1 technology that allowed the bladder to ‘fill out evenly against every panel ensuring precision sphericity’. Other technology made for an excellent feel, touch and speed.

As many as 992 goals were scored with the Geo Merlin in the Premier League in 2000/01, with another 1,001 goals scored with the ball in 2001/02.

Image by Jamie Spencer

Nike’s Total 90 series of balls took over in 2004 until 2011. The Total 90 was also the first Nike Premier League ball to have a standard winter edition.

A handful of other designs were then used – each for a single season - until the Ordem balls first appeared in 2014. Nike reverted to the Merlin in 2018, a design based on the original Geo Merlin, and this season’s ball is another modern take on the classic.

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The 2019/20 campaign is already shaping up to be another memorable one, with a number of thrilling games kicking off the new season.