HAWTHORN players will for the first time have their surnames on the back of their playing guernseys on Easter Monday and wear a commemerative guernsey for the back-to-back flags of 1988-89.
In an initiative approved by the AFL earlier this year, each AFL club will add player names to guernseys for the Round 5 one-off trial.
The trial coincides with the Club's celebration of its back-to-back flags of 1988-89, with Hawthorn players set to wear a commemorative guernsey that displays the names of each player who played in the premierships on the front.
The back of the guernsey will feature a special back-to-back logo at the top, with the player surname to also sit above the number. The back will also be all gold, rather than the current gold back with brown stripes.
The name and number will appear in brown and sit just 6.3cm down from the neckline of the jumper.
Guernsey numbers will also be reduced by 2cm to accommodate player names, which will be 5cm in height.
Purchase your back-to-back commemorative guernsey at HawksNest Online or in-store.
AFL Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Gillon McLachlan said the aim of the trial is to gain supporter feedback following the requests made by some AFL clubs in seasons previous.
“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,” he 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.”
The Club will also be auctioning the playing guernseys worn by the players on Easter Monday next week.
Purchase your back-to-back commemorative guernsey at HawksNest Online or in-store.