30 defining Perth Glory moments, Part II: The early A-League years and their ups and downs

In the second of a three-part series, soccer writer Ben Smith looks at the weird and wonderful events, triumphs and scandals which have defined the first 30 years of Perth Glory. You can find part one here. Fight night (December 2006) The first sign the glory days of old (pun intended) were over. Towards the back-end of a nothingy season which ended with Perth finishing nine points off the finals race, tensions boiled over after a 0-0 draw at home to Adelaide United. After club great Jamie Harnwell and Kiwi utility Adrian Webster argued post-game, the latter threw several punches at Harnwell before teammates could separate the pair. While the pair avoided a suspension, they were both fined as the incident put a bow on an unhappy season where no one found much joy. Under new management (February 2007) Long-time chairman Tony Sage’s rise to power was 12 months in the making. After long-time owner Nick Tana relinquished his controlling stake in the club in early 2006, Glory found themselves in financial murkiness (and not for the last time). Eventually, a worrying 12-month uncertainty ended with the arrival of a three-piece consortium, headed by Sage, Brett McKeon and John Spence. Just over a year later, Spence sold his share in the club and by February 2009, McKeon joined him in walking away — leaving Sage to assume the role as the club’s main benefactor for the next 14 years. King Kenny arrives (October 2008) Kenny Lowe has worn many hats during his long association at the club and when he first arrived in 2008 as an assistant coach, little did anyone know he would go onto become one of their most important figures in history. Later serving as Perth’s longest-tenured head coach, it was a mark of respect when he was later brought back as academy director. Lowe helped guide the growth and development of some of Perth’s best players of the A-League era from a young age, like Adam Taggart and Josh Risdon. The worst way to lose a grand final (April 2012) No single moment haunts Perth fans more than that penalty. If you were looking up ‘kick in the teeth’ in the dictionary, there is a picture of Besart Berisha wheeling away in celebration as the Glory faithful look on aghast. In truth, Ian Ferguson’s side were lucky to be leading against Ange Postecoglou’s all-conquering Brisbane outfit thanks to an Ivan Franjic own-goal. And when Berisha equalised with six minutes to play, it set up a grandstand finish. But deep into stoppage time, Liam Miller’s minimal contact in the box on the striker saw referee Jarred Gillet award a controversial penalty and with no time for a comeback, villain of the piece Berisha smashed the ball into the net. Edwards and Burns’ falling out (December 2013) Just when it felt from the outside like Glory were starting building some momentum, it all fell apart behind the scenes. When former striker turned coach Alistair Edwards was rewarded with a three-year contract for some promising results in a caretake role, it looked like things were on the up. But a disappointing start to the 2013-14 campaign and perceptions Edwards was favouring his sons (Glory midfielders Ryan and Cameron) came to a head before the turn of the new year. A post-game argument with captain Jacob Burns after a third loss in four games was followed by crisis talks and Perth wound up sacking Edwards — just nine months into his contract. It did however, lead to Lowe beginning his tenure as coach. Gallas’ airswing (April 2014) If there was one moment which captured the malaise which had begun to sink in at Glory, it came on a Sunday evening in 2014 with Perth-equal bottom of the table. French World Cup-runner up and English Premier League-winner William Gallas may be only second to Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler in terms of famous faces to have played for Glory, but Perth fans will always remember him for one moment: an unassisted air-swing in his own penalty box under minimal pressure, resulting in a Western Sydney Wanderers goal in a 2-0 loss which goalkeeper Danny Vukvoic described as Glory’s worst performance in three years. Future Matildas lead Perth to grand final (December 2014) In the early years of the new W-League, Perth struggled to consistently put together results, with a penalty shoot-out loss in the 2013 semifinal marking their only finals appearance. But a revitalised, Jamie Harnwell-coached side featuring Matildas past and future combined to shake up the competition. Sam Kerr scored 11 goals in 10 games before injury ended her season, but national team great Kate Gill stepped up as a young cohort including Caitlin Foord, Mackenzie Arnold, Caitlin Foord and future Canadian international Shelina Zadorsky inspired the side to the grand final. Unfortunately, it ended in misery as two late Ashleigh Sykes goals steered Canberra United to a 3-1 win. Salary cap scandal (April 2015) 10 rounds into the 2014-15 season, a resurgent, Lowe-led team were sitting pretty atop the table with just one loss to their name. But the record player scratch was loud and grating when it came as Football Federation of Australia launched an investigation into alleged salary cap irregularities within the Glory’s books. As the season progressed, it became clear Perth’s on-field achievements were just background noise. The FFA eventually found Perth had breached the salary cap by more than $400,000, fined the club $269,000 and most damagingly, disqualified them from finals despite a third-placed finish. Chief executive Jason Brewer resigned, Lowe was left fighting back tears and fans felt betrayed and hollow in equal measure. El Maestro arrives (August 2015) Perth’s best-ever foreign signing was a veteran Spaniard with a more-than respectable CV but much less fanfare, who turned out to be an artist whose canvas was a football pitch and helped change the club’s trajectory. Castro arrived in August, took until the end of the year to fully get settled, but once he hit his straps, he was unstoppable. By the end of his first season, Castro had won the Johnny Warren Medal for the league’s player of the year and by the end of his career, he had scored 49 goals in 136 Glory games and walked away as not just arguably the best player in Perth’s history, but one of the most influential foreigners in A-League history. Cup final fury (November 2015) Even when things went well for Glory during their peak years in the A-League Men, there always seemed to be a sting in the tail. Having reached the final of the inaugural FFA Cup in 2014 before falling to Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium, there were hopes Perth would be rewarded with hosting rights when they fought through to the final again the following year. Instead, Football Federation Australia allowed Melbourne Victory to host the final, Glory lost the showpiece event 2-0, their silverware wait went on and the club took the governing body to task over the hosting rights.

30 defining Perth Glory moments, Part II: The early A-League years and their ups and downs

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