When Jacob Burns fired in the decisive spot kick in the A-League qualifying final it sent out a message to the rest of the A-League: Perth Glory are back.
The club now has a chance to get back to its old glory days of the late NSL where they were consistently challenging for the Premier’s plate.
It was only back in late December when the Glory were languishing after winning only four of their first fourteen games of the season with fans calling for coach Ian Ferguson’s head.
Since then, the Glory have not looked back and ended the inaugural campaign in third spot just eight points adrift of league winners the Central Coast Mariners. Now they are one game away from being the finals series champions.
So how did Perth Glory who finished 10th in season 2010-2011 undertake such a dramatic change in fortune in almost less than year?
There was major transfer activity during the off season which saw a total of 14 players shown the door including Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler and solid centre back Andy Todd.
Perth however, slipped right under the radar when Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory gained the attention of the media by acquiring Socceroos players Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton.
In my opinion Perth did the best bit of business in the transfer market by signing established A-league players such as Travis Dodd, Bas Van den Brink, Steve Pantelidis, Danny Vukovic and arguably the best striker in the competition in Shane Smeltz. To add the icing on the cake they acquired former Manchester United midfielder Liam Miller to complete Perth’s brilliant piece of transfer business.
It seems now that this new look Perth Glory side are starting to click together under Ian Ferguson and they now have a strong playing squad which is helping draw the fans back to Perth’s games.
It’s also worth giving some credit to the youth team at Perth with the team sitting in third place on the A-League ladder only four points behind leaders the Central Coast Mariners. With emerging stars such as Jesse Makarounas the future is looking more bright for the Glory.
So can Perth defy the odds in this weekend’s grand final by overcoming the mighty Brisbane Roar at Suncorp stadium? They certainly have the firepower to do it. And I believe it will go down as one of the great games in Australian football. A win for Perth will write a new chapter in the clubs history books and will signal that Perth Glory is back.
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