Does anyone like the Perth Glory? It’s a question worth asking after Glory reminded the east coast media, once again, that they are a force to be reckoned with.
Glory’s rollercoaster 2-2 draw with the Western Sydney Wanderers yesterday won’t go into the history books as one to remember.
After going behind to Nico Martinez’s first ever A-League goal barely 30 seconds in, the hosts did well to fight back through an Alex Grant header with only five minutes on the clock.
And when Andy Keogh drilled home on the rebound following Andrew Redmayne’s one-handed save, it looked like Perth would take all three points from their out-of-sorts visitors.
That they failed to do so would have disappointed not only suspended coach Kenny Lowe, but also the majority of the 13,000 fans in attendance.
Much of the credit for the resurgent crowds must go to chief executive Peter Filopoulos – the former South Melbourne CEO installed in the wake of the 2015 salary cap scandal.
The scandal threatened to tear the club apart, but despite Football Federation Australia labelling Perth’s behaviour “deliberate concealment,” they were eventually allowed to double down and go about the business of rebuilding their squad.
It might be hard for fans who’ve grown up in the A-League era to imagine, but there was a time when Perth were the biggest club in the land.
When they kicked off in 1996, the Glory set the wheels in motion for a revolution that would eventually lead to the complete overhaul of our national league.
Back-to-back National Soccer League titles were the crowning achievements of the pre-A-League era, although Glory’s most memorable match under then-owner Nick Tana was undoubtedly the 2000 NSL grand final.
Leading 3-0 at half-time in front of more than 43,000 delirious fans at Subiaco Oval, the hosts inexplicably conceded three second half goals, before going on to lose in a penalty shoot-out to the Wollongong Wolves.
Coming as it did before the first of Perth’s two NSL titles – they lost another decider to Sydney Olympic at a packed Subiaco in 2002 – the defeat seemed to harden Glory’s resolve.
By the time they were named as one of the eight inaugural members of the A-League, and with Tony Sage eventually stepping in as the club’s sole owner, the genesis of Glory’s “west versus the rest” mentality had formed.
The only problem was that while Glory had once been a big fish in a small pond, the Australian football landscape had moved on.
When they played established rivals Adelaide United in Round 4 of the first A-League campaign, barely 8,000 fans bothered to file through the gates.
Is any of this important? It is if you think the health of the A-League is predicated on the strength of its smallest clubs.
There’s no way Perth should even be considered a small club, but with the media spotlight trained firmly on the east coast, much of what they accomplish goes unnoticed across the Nullarbor.
That’s probably why so many opponents find the trip to nib Stadium such an uncomfortable one, just as the Wanderers did on a hot afternoon yesterday.
There were almost twice as many fans inside the ground as there were at the WACA to watch the cricket – maybe now we’ll see twice as much A-League coverage as a result? – and with Keogh once again leading the line, the Glory must fancy their chances of cracking the finals this time around.
There’s a whole season of football still to play, and the sternest test yet lies in the form of unbeaten Sydney FC.
But with the early favourites struggling – Melbourne City, Melbourne Victory and defending champions Adelaide all lost this weekend – Glory look as likely to play finals football as any team.
So does anyone like them? Fans in the west certainly seem to be falling back in love with their team.
And the rest of us? If the chant is anything to go by, they probably don’t care.
MatthewSkellett
Guest
Well funny you should bring this up TPC , but HAL Clubs across the board are reporting record memberships - WSW ,MC, and now AU as well as large membership numbers for MV and SFC - NJ also is getting up there - its a watershed season all 'round :-)
The Phantom Commissioner
Roar Rookie
Thought i'd put together Glory's home attendances since January of this year, pretty remarkable when you think of where the club was 2 seasons ago. Well done Peter, Kenny, the players and fans. 2015/16 PG v ADL-9,009 PG v City-7,021 PG v Victory-10,501 PG v Roar-12,156 PG v Jets-11,260 PG v CCM-11,127 PG v CIty-14,504 2016/17 PG v CCM-9,502 (awful weather) PG v Phoenix-11,209 PG v WSW-13,290 Hopefully we're just getting started.
pauly
Guest
Nemesis made a good point on another article that Australians aren't lovers of sport, they're lovers of events.
pauly
Guest
Part of the problem is due to time differences, their games are on at not-so-great times in Eastern Australia for TV ratings. In Brisbane a Saturday night Nix game is on at 4pm - when one might still be out at the beach or park, or doing some shopping.
Hammerhead
Guest
With the North Terrace over, Victory won't be increasing their average crowd attendance any time soon.
pete4
Guest
2030? Don't you mean 2020? I think 2nd Perth club will definitely be a contender for next phase of expansion. Football West thinks has already made a submission to the FFA: https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/32297634/football-west-push-for-second-a-league-licence/#page1
The Phantom Commissioner
Roar Rookie
If people like yourself aren't interested in watching Glory that's more of a problem for the FFA as it would affect ratings. Glory are a highly competitive side full of talented Australian players and quality imports and have played out some very entertaining games already this season... the 3-3 against CCM, 3-2 victory over City and yesterday was a good game as well. Yesterday was played in a beautiful stadium on a world class pitch in front of a great crowd, if that doesn't float your boat i'm not really sure what to tell you!
Mark
Guest
Thanks mate. Despite what I say, knowing what I'm like, I would probably buy a cheap ticket at the last minute and go. I'm sure I'll do that for the next game here against Adelaide, which should be better attended thanks to the SA ex-pats here.
Cameron
Roar Guru
Fair and reasoned reply, Mark. I personally would go if I lived in Canberra, but each to their own. Enjoy the trip, go Australia, and here's to hoping that one day Canberra have a legitimate team to follow and connect with.
Ian
Guest
Santalab arguably should have two red cards, definitely one. So he is lucky he is playing to score goals.
Mark
Guest
Could not agree less. Your model would send the league backwards. Football is not the dominant, established sport here like it is in Europe. A lopsided league dominated by a couple of big clubs would cripple the league's ability to grow attendances and viewers in the long-term. Without the history of smaller European clubs, smaller Australian clubs would have no hope of attracting and retaining fans. The bigger clubs, in turn, couldn't attract new fans and would struggle to retain fans as the league would become smaller and more predictable.
Post_hoc
Guest
Brendan Sanatlab 4 goals, none from Penalties and most experts seem to think Wanderers are weaker than both City and Victory
Lionheart
Guest
watched Luongo's last game, he didn't look right so not surprised he's injured.
Mark
Guest
I do agree with you that it is primarily CCM's responsibility to promote the match, with it being their 'home' match. However, I don't agree that Canberrans should have to generate interest in the game and attend in numbers to prove they want a team here. CCM has demonstrated only the most marginal commitment to the game locally, so local football teams don't really have any stake in CCM's presence here. There is absolutely nothing which should give Canberrans a reason to feel any connection with CCM...even on a trivial level, why would people living in an inland city follow a team with a nickname of the 'Mariners' and that has worn palm trees on their jersey?? The few Canberrans that do actively follow the A-League and occasionally travel to attend (mostly 'ex-pats' with allegiances to teams from where they used to live) probably won't attend because they mostly follow Victory, Sydney FC or WSW. I'm sure if the game draws any less than 10,000 it will be spun as a failure and a demonstration that an A-League team wouldn't work in Canberra. However, given the circumstances, I think we will have done well if more than 5,000 show up. If you're wondering, I won't be going. I'll be on my way to Bangkok for the qualifier next Tuesday. However, even if I weren't going to that, in all honesty I still probably wouldn't bother with CCM vs the Nix. Maybe only if I had absolutely nothing else to do...
Lionheart
Guest
If he was sitting next to me with my family of three young kids, I would care greatly and I'm sure well over 50% of attendees would agree with me. It's one thing to cheer, and banter is good, but most people will differ to you in their definition of what is hilarious. Go try it sometime, and see if you last at any other stadium.
aladdin sane
Roar Rookie
'If you think the health of the A-League is predicated on the health of its smallest clubs' I certainly don't - and would argue that the 'health' of the biggest clubs is far more important to the growth of the league and in turn the long term stability of the smaller clubs. If central coast lift their average attendance 2k a season - it doesn't mean a thing, they'll still battle financially. If melbourne victory raise their average attendance to 35k - that grows the pie for everyone. equalised league is for small thinkers
Kaks
Roar Guru
"It should have been a red card for a deliberate professional foul, in my opinion" - Then every midfielder should be given a straight red card for the deliberate fouls they concede to stop the opposing team mounting a counter attack. Diego Castro went in late against Clisby to stop a counter attack, it was a bad sliding tackle as well where his only objective was to take the player down to stop a counter. He deserved a yellow, as did Santa. That's all there is to it.
Cameron
Roar Guru
Mark, that's ok. I think the biggest issue I'd actually have with your comment is this part Confirms my earlier suspicions that the FFA couldn’t care less about the attendance here this week and, if anything, wouldn’t be upset to see if flop to give them an argument against giving Canberra an A-League team. This is something the Mariners wanted to do by taking matches to Canberra. What it does is give football fans the opportunity to attend a football match and show they're keen for a team there. This was scheduled before the current hype surrounding expansion/promo + relegation. If there was this hype before the fixturing, then maybe I'd question the FFA, but I think you've got it horribly wrong. It also shouldn't be up to FFA to promote this fixture. It should be up to CCM & Nix primarily as well as Canberra. Everyone knows the tv schedule. It should be up to the capital to show how serious they are and generate the interest. Football is football. Both teams are also funnily enough coming off wins which makes it slightly more appealing. Would you want Adelaide vs Jets given the way they've been playing?
Nemesis
Guest
Apologies for being off topic, but this is too good to keep to myself given the number of "Brattan not good enough for Socceroos" we heard last week. Luke Brattan has been added to the Australian squad for the World Cup Qualifier against Thailand after Massimo Luongo picked up a foot injury. Mark Birighitti also replaces Mitch Langerak who injured his foot during Stuttgart's win which put them in 2nd spot in Bundesliga 2. Tomi Juric may also need to be replaced after he hobbled off with a knee injury & will have scans. Apo Giannou is the potential replacement. http://www.socceroos.com.au/article/caltex-socceroos-duo-ruled-out-of-thailand-wcq/1qg3cbouj1v7c1hl4jmalzeppr
Mark
Guest
I don't think it should be a red for a deliberate professional foul, since it wasn't an act of violence and the player wasn't denied a clear goalscoring opportunity. If we punished every deliberate professional foul with a red, no match would end with 11 vs 11 on the pitch. The tackle being from behind makes it worthy of being a red IMO.