Perth Glory FC

Perth Glory

Full name	Perth Glory Football Club[1]
Nickname(s)	Glory
Founded	1996
Ground	nib Stadium
Ground Capacity	20,441
Owner	Tony Sage
Chairman	Tony Sage
Head Coach	Kenny Lowe
League	A-League
2012-13	A-League, 6th
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Perth Glory FC is a professional soccer club^[1] based in Perth, Western Australia. The club plays in the A-League, and is one of three A-League teams to survive from the now defunct National Soccer League (NSL).

History

Background, 1977–95

Perth first showed interest in joining the National Soccer League (NSL) in its inaugural year in 1977. However, a series of logistical problems and financial concerns meant that the league was not keen to include a Western Australian (WA) side. While the state representative side continued to perform well in national and international cup competitions, WA continued to be unrepresented at a senior club level until 1994.

In 1994, a group of businessmen led by Joe Claudio formed the Perth Kangaroos IFC. The club competed in the 1994 Singapore Premier League along with the Darwin Cubs. At the time, there were visions of establishing an Asia-Pacific Super League which could become a sporting and financial empire in the east. It turned out to be something of a farce. The Kangaroos finished the league season undefeated and easily won the Singapore league title. However, with dwindling support and resources, the experiment proved to be a financial disaster and Perth Kangaroos IFC soon folded.^[2]

Early seasons, 1995–98

In 1995, another consortium led by Nick Tana made a bid for entry into the National Soccer League. Perth Glory was subsequently licensed to join the 1996/97 NSL season. From a relatively unheralded start, the club would develop beyond all expectations and establish the game in a state where Australian rules football dominated and Rugby league was about to fail.

Former Adelaide City player and Perth Kangaroos coach Gary Marocchi was appointed coach for the first two seasons and won many fans with his bold, attacking style. Initially believed to be nothing more than a token participant, Perth surprised many by only just missing the cut for the finals; finishing 7th and 8th in 1996–97 and 1997–98 respectively. The exciting style of "you score three, we score four" drew fans – including many British expatriates.

Players like NSL-title-winning sweeper Vinko Buljubasic, Perth born striker Bobby Despotovski and young local star Vas Kalogeracos were brought into the team and achieved cult status. New Zealand international Gavin Wilkinson was also signed while local midfielder Gareth Naven was appointed captain.

In their first match in the NSL, Perth Glory lost to UTS Olympic 4–1, with veteran Scot Alan MacKenzie scoring the first goal for Glory and Doug Ithier winning the first Man-of-the-Match award. Huge crowds and good results soon followed with an exciting win over defending champions the Melbourne Knights thrilling a huge crowd.

Glory needed only a point in their final match of the season but were defeated by the Knights and fell just short of making the finals. Glory midfielder Paul Strudwick was sent off during the match in controversial circumstances while trouble in the crowd also marred the match.

In the 1997–98 season, despite again narrowly missing the top six and signing more high-profile players like Ernie Tapai, Danny Hay and Nigerians Samson Siasia and Peter Anosike it was a disappointing season for the Glory.

The Bernd Stange era, 1999–2001

Fan support was consolidated in the era of Bernd Stange. The former East German national coach became a media star after replacing Gary Marocchi who was sacked and finally took the team into the competition playoffs. The success of the team created record attendances along with record exposure in the local media. During Stange's reign, Glory competed in its first-ever NSL Grand Final in 1999–2000 after having already won the League championship.

In his first season, Stange had taken Glory to their first ever finals series the previous season and had fallen in the preliminary final against Sydney United. With new signings John Markovski and Con Boutsianis fitting straight into the side, local player Jamie Harnwell started to develop into a key defender and made the step to replace the injured Vinko Buljubasic. Unfortunately a horror form slump at the height of summer denied the Glory a top two place but massive crowds still attended their two home finals at the WACA Ground against Adelaide City and Marconi Stallions.

The following year, Glory recruited young players Ivan Ergić, Jason Petkovic and Olyroo Kasey Wehrman. The 1999/2000 grand final is remembered as one of the most thrilling matches in NSL history. Earlier in the Championship Playoff series, Perth had narrowly beaten the Wollongong Wolves in a two-legged Major Semi Final – needing a dramatic 80th-minute penalty and goal in extra time to advance (Ergic drew the penalty and scored the golden goal). In the grand final, Perth again faced the Wolves and led 3–0 at half time against a miserable Wolves outfit; thinking the game was won, Stange substituted key Glory players Scott Miller, Bobby Despotovski and Ivan Ergic. Yet, the Wolves rallied superbly and Perth experienced a series of defensive blunders to be pegged back to 3–3 at full-time. Perth subsequently lost on penalties, but this defining moment galvanised the team and would be a motivating force for years to come. James Afkos, a young defender and son of Glory co-owner Paul Afkos saw his penalty saved, which gave the win to the Wolves. The Wolves side also featured players such as Scott Chipperfield, Sasho Petrovski as well as Matt Horsley and Stuart Young who would go on to play with the Glory in later years. The loss was a crushing blow to Glory but the team had done well despite problems Stange had with stars such as Vas Kalogeracos and Con Boutsianis who had both left the club. Stange had also been told midway through the season that his contract would not be renewed—but well-organised supporter protest and media pressure forced Tana to change his mind and publicly announce the U-turn before a home match against the Canberra Cosmos.

In spite of the loss, Stange was popular with the public but his time had come by the end of the 2000/01 season. Glory was too inconsistent during the season, suffering from more player disharmony involving Stange's tactics, and falling just short of a top-two spot. Glory had at times played good attacking football but proved unable to do so consistently.

In the finals series the Glory once again came up against the Melbourne Knights and drew 0–0 in Melbourne despite having Jamie Harnwell sent off. Following the match Melbourne Knights fans attacked the team and their bus as they tried to leave Sunshine Stadium. It is believed that the fans were angered by a Serbian salute made by Bobby Despotovski towards Melbourne Knights fans who have a traditionally large Croatian support.

In the return leg Glory were eliminated following a 2–2 draw. The Knights had gone into an early lead with goals in slippery conditions before two late goals to the Glory but it wasn't enough with the Knights winning through the away goal rule. Despite signing high profile recruits such as Damian Mori (who had formed a prolific partnership with Bobby Despotovski up front) and Brad Maloney while also holding onto young star Ljubo Milicevic the Glory had underachieved and Stange was sacked by Nick Tana.

Mich d'Avray as coach, 2001–04

Despite the flair of Stange's reign, it would take the more tactical approach of Mich d'Avray to finally win the NSL Championship. While less flamboyant than his predecessor, d'Avray successfully transformed the team with a different strategy to the previous coaches. The attacking 5–3–2, which saw almost as many goals conceded as scored, was replaced with a 4–4–2. Some may argue that the team began to play a less attractive form of the game, but nobody could argue with the results. In 2001/2, the team nearly went the entire season undefeated with a side that only had former Adelaide City midfielder Brad Hassell as a major addition. After scraping through in the second leg of the major semi final against Newcastle, Glory faced Sydney Olympic in the grand final at a sold out Subiaco Oval. While the 2000 Final was one of the great games of domestic Australian association football, the 2002 final was a tight and tense affair with Glory hardly getting a shot on target due to the fact that they lacked any bite in the midfield and had their two strikers marked out of the game. Ante Milicic was on target for Olympic though and his goal early in the second half was enough for Olympic to win 1–0 and break the hearts of Glory fans once again. It was also to be former Socceroo Alistair Edwards final match before retirement.

Many Glory fans consider this match as the final straw for the fans who had flocked in their thousands in the past, and only the hardcore fans still remained at games in the NSL and first two years of the A-League.^{[citation needed]}

Maloney left the club at the end of the 2002 season but his replacement proved to be a key in Glory finally getting that elusive title. German midfielder Andre Gumprecht was brought into the club thanks to Stange and made an instant impact. With the NSL disintegrating around them, Glory and Olympic were the only two semi decent teams still left in the league to galvanise their midfield and fought it out for top spot all season. Glory missed out on the league title, finishing one point behind Olympic. In March 2003, the NSL stripped the club of three points after ruling that Gumprecht had been played before he had been registered.^[3] Glory picked up Socceroo Simon Colosimo halfway through the season and eventually won the right to host the 2003 Grand Final after coming out on top of a new, confusing and convoluted league table finals format that had dragged a poor season out. In the Grand Final Glory took the game to Olympic and following a headed goal from in the first half from Harnwell it was all over late in the match when Mori saw his shot dribble over the line in dramatic fashion. 2–0 was the end result and d'Avray had delivered the Grand Final victory Glory had yearned for.

In the final NSL season in 2003–04, Glory only had Parramatta Power as a huge threat with the Western Sydney club buying up big for the season. Players like Fernando Rech, Michael Beauchamp and Ante Milicic were brought in along with Glory midfielders Gumprecht and Colosimo in what seemed to be a huge blow to the champions. In response to the plundering of their engine room d'Avray signed up Sydney Olympic title winners Tom Pondeljak, Wayne Srhoj and Jade North while also getting former Socceroo defender and West Australian native Shaun Murphy back from the United Kingdom.

In a season where Glory again went head to head with a team from Sydney, Parramatta beat the Glory at home 4–2 and then away 2–0 to host the final ever NSL Grand Final. Glory thrashed Adelaide United in the preliminary final and faced Parramatta at Parramatta Stadium to try and go for back to back victories. In pouring rain, Parramatta were brought down to the level of their opponents and scrapped for every ball in a match devoid of many chances. Mori wasted two sitters before young striker Nick Mrdja nailed a shot past Clint Bolton to claim the golden goal and win the match for Glory and their second NSL title.

In the 2005–06 season d'Avray was the Glory's director of football but after the club decided to hire the coaching services of Ron Smith and David Mitchell his services where no longer wanted within the club for the 2006–07 season.

End of the National Soccer League, 2003–04

It was around 2001 that the league showed signs of significant deterioration. A combination of central mismanagement, conflicts of interest and poor sponsorship would eventually lead to a government enquiry and the removal of the leadership of Soccer Australia. Eventually, the relaunched and renamed Football Federation Australia announced the creation of the A-League for 2005/6. The financial backing and business nous of chairman Nick Tana had ensured the viability and success of the club during the earlier dire times – and ensured it a place in the future of the game in Australia.

First season in the A-League, 2005–06

In 2005, it was announced that former Liverpool and England star Steve McMahon would be appointed as coach. The new season saw a complete overhaul of the playing squad, with Simon Colosimo and former Sunderland and Leeds striker Brian Deane as key signings. Other notable signings included future young stars Nick Ward and Billy Celeski.

Early results in friendlies against local opposition were not great, but Perth became the first team to defeat Sydney FC, winning 1–0 in the semi-final of the 2005–06 Pre-season Cup before losing in the final 0–1 to the Central Coast Mariners. Perth's woeful recruiting strategy was soon evident with the early departure of star import Brian Deane after seven games. Another McMahon recruit, Northern Ireland junior international Neil Teggart, quit the club prior to the start of the regular season. Deane was replaced by Damian Mori, a former Perth Glory striker. Originally on a three-game temporary contract, after some impressive performances Mori stayed for the rest of the season and finished with seven goals.

However, the club continued to be dogged by problems which would only be later revealed to the public. Steve McMahon was subject to constant media criticism over his coaching style and was accused of nepotism by signing his son, Steve McMahon Jr, who was of questionable talent. Rumours also surfaced that players were planning to stage a revolt against the coach. On 7 December, the club reported that the parties had "amicably" chosen to go separate ways.^[4] On 9 December 2005, the club announced that assistant coach Alan Vest would move into the head coach role for the remainder of the season, with striker Damian Mori taking on a dual role as player-coach after being named as his assistant.^[5]

The coach's departure was merely a symptom of deeper troubles. Poor performances saw Perth miss out on qualification for the finals for the first time since 1998. Dwindling support from chairman Nick Tana, as he looked to sell his 75% stake in the club, seemed to underpin a general decline in club fortunes. After the Round 20 match against Sydney FC, Alan Vest hinted that the current player group were incapable of achieving anything better and stated that "cliques" had been formed undermining club harmony. To cap off a bad season, Western QBE announced they were withdrawing as major sponsor after being associated with the club for 8 years.

Under FFA control, 2006–07

On 1 May 2006, Football Federation Australia relieved owner Nick Tana of ownership and management of Perth Glory.^[6]

In July 2006, Australian international Stan Lazaridis signed a 2-year deal.^[7] This was quickly followed by the appointment of Ron Smith as head coach and Michelle Phillips as CEO on 26 July.^[8] Unfortunately, star youth player Nick Ward did not honour his two-year contract and defied the advice of the FFA and left for Queens Park Rangers in England.^[9] In a major bonus for the Glory, longtime partner and sponsor Western QBE Insurance gave a show of faith and signed on as the club's major sponsor in round 18, until the end of the 2007–2008 season. Western QBE had previously been sponsor of the club since 1998, but decided against resigning a deal at the start of the 2006–2007 season, leaving the Glory in a very tough situation- without any sponsor or owners. But in December 2006, signs were shown that owners had been found by the FFA, and so Western QBE were reinstated.

Back in private ownership, 2007–08

The FFA (holders of the Perth Glory licence) announced on 23 February 2007 that the Glory was to be handed over to a triumvirate of owners – Tony Sage, Brett McKeon and John Spence. This announcement ended almost a year of uncertainty.^[10] The new Glory owners are ambitious in their plans, and are bringing new hope to a club that was somewhat poor, both off the field and on, in 2006–07.

On 2 March, it was announced that former Perth Glory players Anthony Danze and Billy Celeski had rejoined the club, along with new signings Dino Djulbic and AIS graduate Jimmy Downey. It was also announced that Naum Sekulovski had agreed to a new one-year deal with the Glory.

On 21 March, Perth Glory announced the signing of former Perth SC and Young Socceroos Goalkeeper Tando Velaphi. This was followed on 27 March with the signing of Nikita Rukavytsya, also from Perth SC. Nikolai Topor-Stanley joined the club after Sydney FC's Asian Champions League campaign finished.

On 19 May, Perth Glory announced that Milton Keynes Dons winger Nick Rizzo had signed a two-year deal with the club. On 24 May, the signing of little-known Croatian striker Mate Dragičević was announced. Dutch veteran Michael Mols was expected to sign as a Glory player for the 2007–08 season but rejected the offer to sign for Feyenoord. Hayden Foxe and Mitchell Prentice were later added to the squad, and the signing of striker James Robinson was also completed.

Probably the biggest coup for the Glory for the 2007–08 season was the signing of a one-year sponsorship deal with Singapore listed steel manufacturer Delong Holdings, worth A$750,000, one of the biggest in the A-League, who will feature on the back of the Glory jersey. On the front of the Glory jersey, long-serving major sponsor Western QBE will feature prominently, another deal worth over A$500,000 for one year, with an option of two years after that.

In the 2007 A-League Pre-season Cup, the Glory surprised many by making the Final against Adelaide despite not playing a single game in WA. In the first round in Port Maquarie, Glory beat Newcastle United Jets FC 1–0 to lead group B from the outset. In the second round, in Adelaide, Glory took the lead through young sensation Nikita Rukavytsya, but were held to a draw by United after a 35-meter wonder strike from Reds defender Cassio. Going into the final group game, against Premiers and champions Melbourne Victory FC, Perth needed a positive result to progress to the Final. In Darwin, in what the FFA designated as a home game, Melbourne scored first through Costa Rican sensation Carlos Hernández, a 35-meter cracker. But the Glory equalised and then took the lead through goals from Harnwell and Nikita Rukavytsya. Unfortunately in the other game, United thrashed unfortunate Newcastle, who had to settle for third place in the group, by 4 goals to 1, meaning Glory would have to face Central Coast, winners of the other group and in ominous form on the back of two wins and a draw. Glory, however, played amazingly well and were victors 3–2 in Gosford. Unfortunately, again United beat their opponents Queensland by 3 goals to two in an absolute cracker of a game, meaning United would host the Grand Final. This was Perth's second chance at the Pre-Season silverware in the A-League.

Prior to the match, Socceroo Simon Colosimo was handed the captaincy and the job of steering Perth back to former Glory.

Perth eventually lost after leading for a large part of the match, again to a Cassio wonder strike, the final score being 2–1 to United. Many people put this down to the travel that the squad endured throughout the campaign for the laps in the last 20 minutes.

The season started poorly though for the Glory, winless after 12 rounds and attracting only four-figure attendances. As a result, Ron Smith came under increasing pressure from fans and the media to deliver results. The team struggled to score goals, with Mate Dragicevic in particular becoming a figure of derision. Glory legend Bobby Despotovski publicly called for Smith to be replaced, and on 4 November Smith was sacked as manager. David Mitchell was handed the caretakers role for the rest of the season.

The bold new era of Perth Glory began the same day, when it was announced the Glory were forming a strategic alliance with English Premier League club Manchester City. Results and crowds immediately picked up. A 4–1 thrashing of Newcastle in Mitchell's debut match bode well for times ahead, with Glory's first win at home in a year against Melbourne and Glory's first-ever win over Sydney. Mitchell won four and drew two of the remaining 10 games of the 2007–8 season.

The club's playing staff drew controversy as the season ended, with news that Simon Colosimo had agreed to join Sydney FC at the end of the season. The story was published in the Sunday Times newspaper and resulted in Colosimo being jeered by sections of the Shed crowd during the round 18 loss to Queensland Roar. Colosimo later strongly denied any deal was done, but admitted that the crowd response made him less likely to stay at Perth. Colosimo was dropped for the final two games of the year for "tactical reasons". He completed his move to Sydney FC at the end of the season.

2008–09

Pre-season preparations began much earlier than usual, with Perth Glory going on a three game tour of China in March, consisting of matches against Changchun Yatai, Changsha Ginde and Guangzhou. The tour was used as an opportunity for the club to assess potential signings, including state league players Josip Magdic (Floreat Athena), Mark Lee (ECU Joondalup), Callum Roberts (Fremantle) and Marc Anthony (Stirling Lions). Eugene Dadi, whose mooted move to the Glory last season was stalled due to Hapoel Acre's refusal to release him, also made the trip. The Glory lost all three matches; the first match went to Changchun 3–0, the second match to Changsha 2–0 and Guangzhou won the final game 3–1. Callum Roberts scored the Glory's only goal on the tour.

Perth Glory have made four new signings in the off-season. Eugene Dadi was granted release from his former club to sign for Perth Glory. Adriano Pellegrino and Adrian Trinidad joined the club in early May. Jimmy Downey also had his contract extended by a further year. Josip Madgic and Naum Sekulovski have also re-joined the Glory for season 2008/09. Stan Lazaridis is the most notable departure, having been told by the club he is no longer required after two seasons hampered by injury, suspension and poor form. In July 2008, Glory announced the signing of Brazilian international midfielder Alexandre da Silva Mariano, better known as 'Amaral.' The defensive midfielder has played with some of the great clubs around the globe including Brazilian giants Palmeiras and Corinthians, perennial Portuguese championship contenders Benfica and successful Italian Serie A outfits Parma and Fiorentina. He has also represented Brazil 31 times during a long and successful career before joining Perth on their pre-season tour of Indonesia.^[11] Glory had been keeping a close eye on youngsters Scott Bulloch (Sorrento), Anthony Skorich (Western Knights) and Andrija Jukic (Perth SC) who were all up and coming players in the WA State league. Bulloch signed with the Glory's senior team in August, while Skorich and Jukic joined Glory's Youth Team. In September, Wayne Srhoj returned to Australia after 5 seasons in Romania, to sign with the Glory for the rest of the season.

Perth finished the season in 7th place, with 22 points. Glory once again started the season poor, though they did however finish the second half of the season strongly, winning 4 matches and drawing 3, securing 15 points in the last 11 rounds since November. In November, Head Coach Dave Mitchell signed a contract extension securing his services till the end of the 2010/11 season.^[12] Mitchell's contract extension, despite Glory's slow start, showed the new direction Glory's club was heading, of vision, but built on stable foundations. Promising signs on and off the field were shown this season and things progressed further with Tony Sage taking sole ownership of the club at season's end.^[13]

Back To Glory, 2009–10

Former Perth Glory co-owner Brett McKeon sold his shareholding in the club to Tony Sage in February 2009 making Sage the sole owner of the club. Following this Sage has invested money into the club for the 2009–10 season including a number of wholesale changes to operations, marketing, players and staff.^[14]

As part of Glory's pre-season campaign, the club hosted English Premier League clubs Wolverhampton Wanderers FC and Fulham FC as well as new A-League franchise North Queensland Fury for friendly matches in Perth in July. Although Glory went down 1–0 and 5–0 to Wolverhampton and Fulham respectively the event was a success attracting an average of 13,000 fans to Members Equity Stadium for both matches. Perth Glory continued their pre-season in Mandurah with a 1–0 victory against North Queensland Fury featuring Fury's marquee signing Robbie Fowler.

For season 2009–10, Perth Glory have undertaken an overhaul of the club badge and playing kit, which includes vertical white and purple stripes on their home kit for the first time in the club's history.^[15]

Tony Sage's promise to invest in the club by spending the full amount of money on players allocated under the A-League's salary cap rule had eventuated with the club making key signings. Victor Sikora was signed in February 2009^[16] following a short term stint at Glory on loan from FC Dallas during the latter part of the 2008–09 A-League season. Further international players were added to the squad with Serbian striker Branko Jelić signed on a 3-year deal from Energie Cottbus^[17] and Englishman Andy Todd joining from Derby County.^[18] Following up on an early season promise by Tony Sage to sign Socceroo players, Perth Glory have successfully secured the services of Jacob Burns.^[19] In June 2009, in a bold move to attract attention for 2010 FIFA World Cup selection, Mile Sterjovski joined the club on a marquee contract,^[20] while Chris Coyne also announced his intentions by returning to his hometown club.^[21]

Perth Glory's first match of the 2009–10 A-League season was played away at Hindmarsh Stadium against Adelaide United on 7 August 2009. This was the first season that Perth made the finals series.

2010–11

Perth signed ex-North Queensland Fury manager Ian Ferguson as the assistant coach, despite rumours circulating that Ferguson and new Glory signing Robbie Fowler had a bad working relationship whilst at North Queensland Fury. After the resignation of David Mitchell, he became the head coach on 12 October 2010.^[22]

Glory signed veteran Jamie Harnwell to a new one-year deal for the 2010–11 season. The club also went on to sign Perth products Jamie Coyne and Todd Howarth to contract extensions, before signing left-back Josh Mitchell and striker Michael Baird, who have both been playing for Romanian club Universitatea Craiova.^[23]

On 27 April 2010, it was announced that Fowler had agreed to become part of Glory's squad for the 2010–11 A-League season.^[24] Fowler reportedly rejected offers from Middle East clubs to stay in Australia after enjoying his time in the country.^[25]

After an initial strong start to the season as equal-top after a 5-game undefeated streak, Glory lost four matches in a row forcing David Mitchell to step down as coach, assistant coach Ian Ferguson became his replacement.^[26] After the managerial change, Glory lost another game 3 games, to make it 7 losses consecutively. Glory finished second last in the season after losing their last 5 games.

2011–12

Perth Glory's off-season featured several high-profile signings with Ian Ferguson signing a large number of overseas and local players including former Adelaide United player Travis Dodd, former Dutch Gold Coast United players Bas van den Brink and Shane Smeltz, Brazilian player Andrezinho and two Irish players Liam Miller and Billy Mehmet. Several players were let go including Robbie Fowler and Jamie Coyne.

In the pre-season, Perth glory played Scottish giants Celtic FC in front of 15,000 fans; however Glory lost 2–0, Perth ended their Pre-Season campaign with a 2–2 draw against Sydney FC.

Perth Glory's first match was against Adelaide United at nib Stadium which they won 1–0. They later went on to defeat Wellington Phoenix 1–0, to make it three in a row, Glory again slumped, winning one out of their last 9 matches including 7 defeats. With pressure mounting on coach Ian Ferguson, on 19 December 2011, Glory Owner Tony Sage threatened to leave the club at the end of the season,^[27] however, after apologising and dismissing his threats as an emotional outburst,^[28] Glory went out to win 9 of their last 15 and finished 3rd on the ladder and qualified for the finals for the second time in their A-league history.

Glory's finals series kicked off with a 3–0 victory over Melbourne Heart in a match at nib stadium. The semifinal was against their rivals Wellington at nib stadium, Glory won 3–2 in extra time. Glory then went to Bluetongue Stadium to play Central Coast Mariners in a Preliminary final, Glory won 1–1 (3–5) on penalties and for the first time in A-League history Perth Glory were in a Grand Final. Against Brisbane Roar, in front of 50,334 people at Suncorp Stadium Perth went up 1–0 however Brisbane's Besart Berisha equalised at the 84th minute, Brisbane roar won in the dying seconds of the game after a controversial penalty. Jacob Burns was awarded the Joe Marston Medal for player of the match after it was accidentally awarded to Brisbane player Thomas Broich.^[29]

2012–13

For the 2012–13 off season the Perth Glory owner, Tony Sage, put several players on reduced deals in order to save money.^[30] However some players, such as Andrezinho and Scott Neville, did not accept the offers. Perth Glory also embarked on signing youth,^[31] players Chris Harold and Adrian Zahra were signed, while Brandon O'Neill and Ndumba Makeche were promoted from the youth squad. Perth Glory also won the Grand Final re-match, One goal to Nil, in Round One of the season to hand "revenge"^[32] to the Rado Vidošić led Brisbane Roar.

2013–14

At the beginning of the season, the club decided to dedicate the number 12 shirt to the fans by not registering it to a player and having it listed as 'Glory Fans' when the squad is announced on match days.^[33]

Name, colours and badge

When Perth Glory was formed (in 1996), the club felt it important to create a logo and name with no ethnic overtones and which symbolised the rebirth of association football in Western Australia^{[citation needed]}. It was felt the name Perth Glory had broad appeal and a sense of history. The sunburst in the logo is characteristic of Perth in summer, while purple was chosen as the main colour and orange and white as the secondary colours, they were chosen in contrast to the more traditional combinations (generally white, red or blue).

Perth's kit is mainly white, with purple stripes on the front of the jersey, purple and white shoulders with orange triming, purple shorts with white trimming and purple socks. The away kit consists of a white jersey with an orange and purple stripe down the center, and white shorts and socks.

In 2005 when the A-League was launched, the club decided a new logo was needed for the new era of Perth Glory. The new logo retained the small 'Perth' in an arc above the larger 'Glory', with the letter 'O' still represented by an association football. The orange and purple colours still stayed as did the sun rays. The previous logo had been used since the club's inception in 1996 in the old NSL.

During the FFA's administration of the club, they indicated an openness to changes to the Perth Glory name and colours.^[34] This was not a popular move amongst Glory supporters.^[35] Thankfully for supporters, then new triple owners Sage, Spence and McKeon stated that colours will certainly not be changed under their reign^{[citation needed]}.

In April 2009 a new shield logo for the club was unveiled.^[36] Though completely divergent from previous designs, the new badge has been received well in the general public. The change is viewed as the step to a new era of Perth Glory, attempting to appeal to fans.

In what was seen as something of a tribute to Glory's past, the 2009–10 strip reverted to the vertical stripes, similar to what can be found on Glory's jersey of 1996–97.^[37]

In June 2011 Perth Glory celebrated the 2011/12 A-League season with a one off new logo to commemorate the club’s 15th anniversary.^[38]

On 23 October 2011, Perth Glory wore a predominantly blue jersey in recognition of the 125-year anniversary of their major sponsor, QBE Insurance, in a match against Wellington Phoenix.^[39]

• 

  Perth's logo, 1997-03

• 

  Perth's logo, 2005–08

• 

  Perth's logo, 2009–present

• 

  Perth's logo, 2011–12, which commemorated Perth's 15th year anniversary, was used only in the 2011–12 season.

Kit evolution

• Home

1996–1997

1998–2000

2000–2001

2002–2003

2003-2004

2005–2006

2007–2009

2009–2011

2011–

• Away

1996–1997

1998–1999

1999–2000

2000–01

2001–2002

2003–2004

2005–2009

2009–2011

2011–

• Third

2011–12

Sponsorship

Since 1998, the insurance company Western QBE had been Glory's title (front-of-shirt) sponsor. However, when ownership of the Glory was handed to FFA, Western QBE decided not to sponsor the club for the 2006–07 season. This left the Glory in a tough position—a lack of sponsorship and owners meant a lack of money, a lack of quality players, poor results and poor football, poor crowd attendances and low ticket sales. This is the model that had affected so many NSL clubs and led to their demise, and had led to the demise of the New Zealand Knights. Therefore, the Glory knew they needed to find a sponsor quickly, and transitional owners FFA knew they needed to find good owners in a timely fashion as well. Luckily, 18 rounds into the 2006–07 season, Western QBE returned as title sponsor, signing for the remaining three rounds and until the end of the 2007–08 A-League season. This brought much-needed stability to the club; the funds helped to secure the supporters' faith, which set off another chain-reaction: fans meant more money, which meant more advertisement, which meant survival, which meant potential owners felt more secure about bidding for the club's licence. This all led to a much larger and more highly respected squad for the 2007–08 season.

Owners were found in February 2007 for the club in Tony Sage, John Spence and Brett McKeon. These owners injected much needed funds into on-field performance, administration, appeal to fans and youth development camps.

A massive boost in March 2007 was the signing of a one-year deal with Asian steel manufacturer Delong Holdings ltd. This deal was one of the largest in the A-League, worth $750,000 with an option of another two-year contract after seasons end worth another $1,000,000. The name and symbol of Delong featured prominently on the back of Glory's shirts during the 2007–08 season, with Western QBE already emblazoned on the front in tandem with Delong as Glory's title sponsor. Delong opted out of the second year and the space on the back of the uniform was instead replaced by Tony Sage's fashion magazine Kurv in 2008.

In May 2009, WA mining company FEX Mining signed a large deal reportedly worth around A$1.2 million a year for the next two seasons. This deal is seen as a major factor in the squad's large overhaul, allowing top players such as Chris Coyne to be signed by the club.

Period	Kit manufacturer	Major sponsor	Supporting sponsor
1996–99	Umbro	Western QBE	Chicken Treat, Quit WA
1999-03	Kappa
2003–04	Sekem
2005–06	Reebok
2006–07			Foxtel Digital
2007–08			Delong Holdings, 6PR 882
2008–09		QBE Insurance	Kurv. Magazine, 6PR 882
2009–11			FEX Mining, 6PR 882
2011–12	X-Blades		Hyperion Energy, Europcar
2012–13			Stellar Securities, Clough
2013–14	Macron		LiveLighter, Clough

Stadium

Perth Glory play their home games at Perth Oval, which can hold 20,500 spectators. The record attendance for an A-League match is 16,019, set when Glory hosted North Queensland Fury FC in August 2010. The largest average season attendance in the A-League for the Glory is 9,374 in the 2005–06 season, while the largest attendance for any association football match at the ground was in November 1998 when 18,067 fans turned up to see a top-table clash with arch-rival South Melbourne FC.

Now that Western Australia has another major team in a rectangular-code competition (Western Force in the Super 14 Rugby competition), there is a big push to have a 30,000+ capacity rectangular stadium in Perth. Western Force and Perth Glory have joined forces on several occasions to knock on the door of the Western Australian Government and plead their case for a ground of this size. The Force previously played games out of 40,000-seat the oval-shaped AFL ground Subiaco Oval, which has hosted several Glory games before, generally NSL Finals games, most notably the 1999–2000 season NSL Grand Final when an all-time NSL record crowd of 43,157 fans saw Wollongong Wolves beat Glory on penalties following a 3–3 draw. The Force moved to nib Stadium prior to the 2010 Super 14 Season, this move brought an austere modernisation to the ground increasing capacity from around 18,000 to 20,500 and increased corporate areas.

Perth Oval is scheduled to be redeveloped, starting in June 2012, both the southern and the eastern stand are to be replaced. This will leave the stadium with reduced capacity during the 2012–13 A-league season. It is to be completed by April 2013, with a capacity of 20,441. There are plans to add a cover on the southern stand at a later stage.^[40]

Affiliated Clubs

• Inglewood United^{[citation needed]}

Supporters

The Glory Shed is a covered terrace standing area at the Northern (Bulwer Street) end of NIB Stadium. It is home to the group the Glory Shed Supporters Club (GSSC). In front of the Shed is an all seated area known to the fans as "The FOTS" (Front Of The Shed) and is the home to the far more energetic and active supporters such as Glory Fans United (GFU) and the active sub-group Avanti, who are responsible for flags, banners, Tifosi displays and corteos to the ground, as well as several drums and a Capo with a mega-phone in order to start chants and lead the home end in supporting the players.^[41][42]

Players

Senior squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Danny Vukovic 2 DF Jack Clisby 3 DF Brandon O'Neill 4 MF Ryan Edwards (On loan from Reading) 5 MF Rostyn Griffiths 6 MF Cameron Edwards 7 MF Jacob Burns (Captain) 8 MF Nebojša Marinković 9 FW Shane Smeltz 10 FW Jamie Maclaren (Youth) 11 MF Adrian Zahra 13 MF Travis Dodd 14 MF Steven McGarry

No. Position Player 16 FW Sidnei 17 FW Chris Harold 18 GK Jack Duncan 19 DF Joshua Risdon 20 MF Daniel De Silva 21 DF Scott Jamieson 22 FW Ndumba Makeche 23 DF Michael Thwaite (Vice Captain) 24 DF Matthew Davies 25 DF Riley Woodcock 28 FW Darvydas Šernas (On loan from Gaziantepspor) 36 DF William Gallas

Internationally Capped Players

Player	Country	Caps	Goals	Years Active
Jacob Burns	Australia	11	(0)	2000-
Shane Smeltz	New Zealand	48	(23)	2003-
Travis Dodd	Australia	2	(1)	2006
Scott Jamieson	Australia	4	(0)	2009-
Michael Thwaite	Australia	13	(0)	2005-
William Gallas	France	84	(5)	2002-2010

Youth squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Jordan Franken DF Ryan Lowry MF Lawrence Shurama MF Slobodan Vulin

No. Position Player MF Jacob Collard FW Moses Kalau FW Borbor Sam

Ownership and finances

Currently, the club is 100% owned by Tony Sage.^{[citation needed]}

In 1995, a consortium lead by Nick Tana aimed to have a football team in Perth for the National Soccer League, subsequently Perth Glory were licensed to join the 1996/97 NSL season. On January 2004 Nick Tana announced he was planning to sell Perth Glory at the end of the season.^[43] On 30 April 2006, Tana and Football Federation Australia reached an agreement for FFA to take control of the club on 1 May 2006 to assume interim ownership of the club.^[6]

On 23 February 2007, Football Federation Australia announced triumvirate of local businessmen, Tony Sage, Brett McKeon and John Spence would take ownership of the club, with a commitment to make the club the powerhouse it was in the NSL.^[44] In 2008, Spence walked away from the club leaving Tony Sage and Brett McKeon as co-owners^{[citation needed]}. On 18 February 2009, co-owner Brett McKeon quit the club as owner, making Tony Sage sole owner after buying out McKeon's shares.^[45]

On 19 December 2011, Tony Sage threatened to leave the club,^[27] however after apologising and dismissing his threats as an emotional outburst, Tony Sage re-affirmed commitment, and resumed control of Perth Glory.^[28]

Personnel

Club officials

• Chairman: Tony Sage
• Deputy Chairman: Lui Giuliani
• Board Members: Benny Elias, Ross Levin
• CEO: Jason Brewer

Coaching and medical staff

• Football Operations Manager: Ante Kovacevic
• Head Coach: Kenny Lowe
• Assistant Coach: Andrew Ord
• Goalkeeping Coach: Neil Young
• Youth Team Head Coach: Gareth Naven
• Assistant Youth Team Coach: Scott Miller
• Development Coach: Bobby Despotovski
• Team Doctor: Arjun Rao
• Physiotherapist: Chris Hutchinson
• Strength and conditioning coach: Warren Andrews

Coaches

Dates	Name	Notes	Honours
1996–98	Gary Marocchi	Inaugural manager
1998–01	Bernd Stange	First overseas Manager	1999-00 National Soccer League Premiership 1999-00 National Soccer League Championship Runner Up
2001–04	Mich d'Avray	Perth Glory's most successful coach	2001–02 National Soccer League Premiership 2001–02 National Soccer League Championship Runner Up 2002–03 National Soccer League Championship 2003–04 National Soccer League Premiership 2003–04 National Soccer League Championship
25 January 2005–7 December 05	Steve McMahon		2005 A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup Runner Up
8 December 2005–25 July 06	Alan Vest	Caretaker coach
26 July 2006–4 November 07	Ron Smith	Former Football Federation Australia Technical Manager	2007 A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup Runner Up
4 December 2007–12 October 10	David Mitchell	Former Perth Glory assistant coach
12 October 2010–13	Ian Ferguson		2011–12 A-League Championship Runner Up
11 February 2013–17 December 2013	Alistair Edwards
20 December 2013–	Kenny Lowe	Caretaker coach

Captains

Dates	Name	Notes
1996–2002	Gareth Naven
2003–2004	Shaun Murphy
2005–2007	Jamie Harnwell	Longest serving Glory player
2007–2008	Simon Colosimo	Left for Sydney FC
2008–2009	Jamie Coyne
2009–present	Jacob Burns	Joe Marston Medal winner

Honours

• A-League:
  • Champions (0):
    • Runners-Up (1): 2011–12
  • Premiership (0):
    • Runners-Up (0):
  • Finals Series Appearances (3): 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13

• National Soccer League:
  • Champions (2): 2002–03, 2003–04
    • Runners-Up (2): 1999-00, 2001–02
  • Minor Premiership (3): 1999-00, 2001–02, 2003–04
    • Runners-Up (1): 2002–03
  • Finals Series Appearances (6): 1998–99, 1999-00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04

• Pre-Season Cup:
  • Winners (0):
    • Runners-Up (2): 2005, 2007

Records and statistics

(As of 12 October 2011)

• Biggest winning margin: Perth Glory 6–0 Canberra Cosmos (3 November 1996)
• Biggest losing margin: Parramatta Power 6–0 Perth Glory (2 November 2003)
• Undefeated streak: 13 (29 April 2001 – 15 December 2001)
• Winning streak: 8 (7 October 2001 – 1 December 2001)
• Record attendance during regular season: 18,067 (vs South Melbourne FC – 15 November 1998)
• Record attendance during finals: 43,242 (vs Wollongong Wolves – 11 June 2000)
• Most matches played for club: 256 Jamie Harnwell

Most appearances

Correct as of 31 May 2012
Competitive, professional matches only. Appearances as a substitute counted as an appearance. Players in bold still play for the club.

	Name	Years	NSL	NSL Finals	A-League	A-league Finals	Total
1	Jamie Harnwell	1998–2004, 2005–2011	123	23	110	-	256
2	Bobby Despotovski	1996–2004, 2005–2007	186	26	29	-	241
3	Scott Miller	1996–2004, 2004–2006	189	22	16	-	227
4	Jason Petkovic	1999–2004, 2005–2009	146	22	31	-	177
5	Jamie Coyne	2002–2004, 2005–2011	27	6	118	1	153
6	Gareth Naven	1996–2002	134	9	-	-	143
7	Damian Mori	2000–2004, 2005–2006	101	11	17	-	129
8	Edgar	1999–2003	105	11	-	-	116
9	Naum Sekulovski	2005–2011	-	-	107	1	108
10	Alistair Edwards	1998–2003	81	12	-	-	93

Top goalscorers

Correct as of 1 June 2012
Competitive, professional matches only, appearances including substitutes appear in brackets. Players in bold still play for the club.

	Name	Years	NSL	NSL Finals	A-league	A-league Finals	Total
1	Bobby Despotovski	1996–2004, 2005–2007	101	16	12	-	113 (241)
2	Damian Mori	2000–2004, 2005–2006	77	9	7	-	84 (129)
3	Jamie Harnwell	1998–2004, 2005–2011	19	5	25	-	44 (246)
4	Con Boutsianis	1998–2000	25	1	-	-	25 (49)
=4	Nick Mrdja	2000–2004	25	4	–	-	25 (73)
6	Alistair Edwards	1998–2003	24		–	-	24 (93)
7	Vas Kalogeracos	1996–1997, 1998–2000	22	-	–	-	22 (59)
8	Scott Miller	1996–2004, 2005–2006	17		-	-	17 (227)
=8	Shane Smeltz	2011–present	-	–	13	4	17 (26)
10	Nikita Rukavytsya	2007–2009	-	-	16	-	16 (42)
11	Brad Hassell	2001–2004	13	2	–	-	15 (70)
=11	Mile Sterjovski	2009–2011	-	-	15	-	15 (63)
13	Brad Maloney	2000–2002	13	2	-	-	13 (41)

End of Season Awards

Current Winners:

Senior Team:

• Perth Most Glorious Player : Joshua Risdon
• QBE Players, Player of the Year: Joshua Risdon
• Young Player of the Year:
• Volunteers' Player of the year:
• Supporters Player of the Year: Liam Miller
• Bobby Despotovski Golden Boot: Shane Smeltz
• Best Clubman :

Women's Team:

• Most Glorious women's player: Tanya Oxtoby
• Player’s Player of the Year: Katie Holtham
• Golden Boot: Marianna Tabain

Youth's Team'

• Most Glorious Youth player:

All-time A-League Win/Loss (Including Finals)

Last updated 5 February 2012

Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Adelaide United	19	7	3	9	23	25	−2
Brisbane Roar	20	3	5	12	25	43	−18
Central Coast Mariners	20	2	5	13	17	36	−19
Gold Coast United	7	1	2	4	6	9	−3
Melbourne Heart	6	2	3	1	9	7	2
Melbourne Victory	20	8	5	7	36	35	1
New Zealand Knights	6	5	0	1	13	4	9
Newcastle Jets	22	9	7	6	32	34	−2
North Queensland Fury	6	0	3	3	6	10	−4
Sydney FC	20	4	7	9	24	31	−7
Wellington Phoenix	16	6	2	8	14	20	−6
Total	162	47	42	73	205	254	-49

See also

• Perth Glory FC W-League
• List of Perth Glory FC seasons

References

External links

• Perth Glory Official Website

Preceded by Sydney Olympic	NSL Champions 2002/03-2003/04	Succeeded by A-League Sydney FC

v t e Perth Glory FC Youth Women's Club History Players Seasons Grounds Perth Oval League National Soccer League (1996–2004) A-League (2005–) Seasons (17) 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 Head coaches Marocchi (1996–99) Strange (1999–2001) d'Avray (2001–04) McMahon (2005) Smith (2006–07) Mitchell (2007–10) Ferguson (2010–2013) Edwards (2013) Lowe (a.i 2013–) Captains G. Naven (1996–2002) Murphy (2003–2004) J. Harnwell (2005–07) Colosimo (2007–08) J.Coyne (2008–09) Burns (2009–) Rivalries Iron Ore Cup

v t e A-League Seasons 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 Grand Finals 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Current clubs Adelaide United Brisbane Roar Central Coast Mariners Melbourne Heart Melbourne Victory Newcastle Jets Perth Glory Sydney FC Wellington Phoenix Western Sydney Wanderers Former clubs Gold Coast United New Zealand Knights North Queensland Fury Rivalries The Big Blue The F3 Derby Melbourne Derby Sydney Derby Competition Players (Foreign) Records Honours Stadia Expansion Associated competitions W-League National Youth League AFC Champions League FFA Cup Pre-Season Challenge Cup All Stars Game Category Portal Commons

v t e National Soccer League List of NSL champions List of NSL players Seasons 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 Teams APIA Leichhardt Adelaide City Adelaide United Blacktown City Brisbane City SC Brisbane Lions SC Brisbane Strikers Brunswick Juventus Canberra City SC Canberra Cosmos Canterbury-Marrickville Carlton S.C. Collingwood Warriors Eastern Pride Football Kingz Footscray JUST Green Gully Cavaliers Heidelberg United Inter Monaro Marconi Stallions Melbourne Knights Mooroolbark SC Newcastle Breakers Newcastle Jets Newcastle KB United Newcastle Rosebud United Northern Spirit Parramatta Eagles Parramatta Power Penrith City SC Perth Glory Preston Lions FC South Melbourne St George Saints Sunshine George Cross Sydney City Sydney Olympic Sydney United FC West Adelaide Western Suburbs SC Wollongong Macedonia Wollongong Wolves

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v t e Professional sporting teams based in Perth Association football (soccer) A-League / Youth League: Perth Glory W-League: Perth Glory Australian rules football AFL: Fremantle West Coast Eagles WAFL: Claremont East Fremantle East Perth Perth South Fremantle Subiaco Swan Districts West Perth Baseball ABL: Perth Heat Basketball NBL: Perth Wildcats WNBL: West Coast Waves Cricket Sheffield Shield / Ryobi One Day Cup: Western Warriors Big Bash League: Perth Scorchers WNCL: Western Fury Field hockey AHL: WA Thundersticks (men's) AHL: WA Diamonds (women's) Ice hockey AIHL: Perth Thunder Netball ANZ Championship: West Coast Fever Rugby league S. G. Ball Cup: WA Reds Rugby union Super Rugby: Western Force Water polo ANWPL: Fremantle Mariners Fremantle Marlins UWA Torpedoes Main article: Sport in Western Australia