THE AFL has put the kibosh on player surnames appearing on club guernseys in the future, citing the lack of "compelling benefit" the concept offers to the sport's fan experience.

The league trialled printing surnames on guernsey backs in Round 5, but identified the illegibility of the names to spectators in the arena and at home as a primary hurdle that had little chance of being overcome.

There were instances where some player names were written as acronyms, such was the difficulty in fitting long names onto the limited guernsey space above the number.

The AFL's general manager of commercial operations Darren Birch said the concept had little practical benefit to spectators and would be an unnecessary break with Australian Football's unique tradition.

“The guernsey is such an integral part of our game’s heritage, particularly the iconic feature of player numbers as the standalone point of reference for identifying players,” Birch said.

“Feedback from fans and clubs to the Round 5 trial of player names was mixed, with some seeing it as moving with the times, whereas others believing strongly we should hold onto this element of the game’s heritage by sticking to player numbers.

"However, consistent amongst much of the feedback was that the player names were not visible enough to be truly effective.

"The unique cut of AFL guernseys restricts the size of lettering that can be used and this in turn limits the legibility of the player names for fans at the ground, and to a lesser extent, for those watching on television or via other media channels.

“To varying degrees depending on the club, there is only limited space available on the back of match day guernseys for suitably sized names due to player numbers, club acronyms and sponsor logos.

“The trial demonstrated that while the concept of player names might be a good one in theory, in practice it does not work as well as we would like.”