Perth Glory owner Tony Sage has been busy spending money, signing big-name players this A-League off-season, as he tries to restore the West Australian club’s former fame.
He’s committed to spending Glory’s full $2.1 million salary cap on player wages as well as signing a marquee player, Mile Sterjovski, who’s believed to be on $2 million over three years, along with underwriting the visits of some English Premier League guests.
Indeed, Sage this week admitted his cash splurge was a big gamble but one he hopes will find a return by bringing the crowds back to Members Equity Stadium in droves.
And, after four years of A-League disappointment for Perth fans, the signs already this season are promising that Sage’s Glory revival is well and truly on the march.
Sage himself said last week, “It’s a huge risk financially but I think soccer (sic) will dominate the airwaves over the next 12 to 18 months with Australia in the World Cup and us performing really well on the park.
“The risk is that the fans are apathetic. If the game doesn’t make it in this State in the next 12 to 18 months it never will.”
Indeed, he’s spot on. It is all about the fans. It’s not necessarily about Glory winning trophies just yet, but more so about the fans flocking to the MES and getting behind this revolutionized club.
Sage recently added, “You can’t beat having on-field success. That, more than anything else, will help get the crowds back.”
Of course, winning matches will help but the realistic expectation in Perth, after years of underachievement, would be playing deep into the finals.
So in saying that, winning the league won’t be the be all and end all for Glory, for now at least.
The crowds are what Sage is after and good results will help achieve that, along with a few other ingredients.
Realistically the yardstick for Sage’s gamble will be attendances in excess of 15,000, reminiscent of Glory’s dominant NSL days.
So as Sage acknowledges, the route to failure is if the fans are apathetic, if they’re not interested in the club and thus don’t turn up.
So far though, it seems he’s done his utmost to ensure that won’t be the case with a trio of Socceroos signing on along with former Blackburn captain Andy Todd and a Serbian hitman from the German Bundesliga called Branko Jelic. Add those new faces to popular striker Eugene Dadi and there’s plenty for the Perth public to be excited about.
But the Glory owner hasn’t stopped there. He has lured Premier League outfits Wolverhampton and Fulham to West Australia for pre-season friendlies against the Glory in a bid to generate interest in the club.
And Sage’s decision to stage the games at Members Equity, rather than the larger Subiaco Oval or perhaps the WACA, is a masterstroke in terms of attracting new fans and familiarizing them with Perth Glory as a form of entertainment.
By that I mean, the lure of two Premier League clubs would definitely have brought some new faces to football in Perth. For instance, a female friend of mine who I’ve never in my life conversed with about sport, let alone football, had her Facebook status on Friday as “Is going to go watch Perth Glory. Woo!”
As cheezy as that is, familiarizing these new fans with the MES and putting on a decent show for them to enjoy will surely encourage them to return.
In saying that, sure in hindsight the crowds wouldn’t have suited Subiaco, but Sage himself admitted he was surprised the matches didn’t sell out within a week, so playing the matches at the MES was a decision made in the right interests.
Nevertheless, for Perth’s opening EPL pre-season friendly on Friday night against Wolverhampton the crowd was an okay figure of just over 11,000. Perhaps not what Sage had in mind, but a decent enough start.
Many fans said the price of tickets (starting at $50) turned them off, while there were a few reported strange early problems with purchasing only available via credit card or for package deals were you had to attend both matches.
So in considering the price and the number who turned out, you’d expect Sage wouldn’t have made an initial profit out of the venture.
But ignoring that, the thing for Sage to heart from has been the reaction from fans following the match. New signing Todd impressed many with an assured display in defence, while Socceroo Sterjovski looked quality and almost scored a scorcher before going off at the break. Even fringe Socceroo Jacob Burns won a few admirers with a solid performance in the middle of the pitch.
The central theme from the reactions of those Glory fans though, is that they haven’t seen football played like this in their backyard for years. They were entertained.
And some decent, attractive football (or entertainment) will go a long way to getting the fans back on the terraces.
So if Glory deliver some attractive football, the results should come with it, followed closely by the crowds.
It’s a fairly large risk from Sage, but surely a calculated one. The yardstick is the crowds and finals football.
But for the sake of the A-League, not just Sage’s wallet, let’s hope the Glory-days return. Early on, the signs are promising.
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