Players will wear their surnames on the back of their jumpers in Round Five as part of an AFL trial.

The trial coincides with Adelaide’s game against Greater Western Sydney at Adelaide Oval on Sunday, April 20. The player names will be in the same colour as the club number on the jumper, and will sit above the number and below the neck line.

AFL Deputy Chief Executive Officer Gillon McLachlan said a number of clubs and other interested parties had put forward requests for player names on match-day jumpers in recent years, and the AFL had now approved a trial on the basis that all clubs would be included at the one time.

Round Five was chosen to provide both adequate time for clubs to prepare a set of playing jumpers for this season, and then also for the AFL and clubs to gather feedback from supporters before deciding whether to consider a permanent change for future seasons.

“The suggestion of player names on jumpers has been a regular discussion item for the AFL in recent years, for reasons of both player identification across an 18-team competition and also because of how fans identify with star players in their favourite team,” Mr McLachlan said.

“Many fans now identify with both an athlete’s name and his number with a playing jumper across most other sports, while our game has traditionally just recognised a player for his number.

“We felt it important that all clubs participate at the one time in a trial on how our jumpers would now look, so that the football community can make a decision on what direction we will go in the future,” he said.

Those clubs with current key points on the jumper-back recognising aspects of their history (FFC on the Western Bulldogs, FFC on the Brisbane Lions etc) will retain those acronyms on their jumpers.