Has Football (Soccer) in Perth Died?

Question

What has happened to Perth Glory being the glamour club in Australia?

Football Kingz aside, Perth glory have been the poorest performing club in the A-League.

The Crowds are getting smaller, membership is dropping and the Glory are struggling badly.

Does the Glory need to look back to the days of Bernd Stange and Mich d'Avray and base the game on their way, the only way that has suited the Glory and given the team championships.

Apparently the Glory have the best sponsorship deal in the league, so where is the $750,000 going?

Perhaps it is time to relaunch a new W.A club, and revive Football in Perth.

Any thoughts on whats happening and what needs to be done?

Answer 1

If the crowds and certain players (not Perth ones) keep behaving like they have been then football will lose all its gains from the WC. Throwing bottles, burning scarves and punching touchies in the nads will not be accepted by aussie fans and will only alienate the typical sports fan.

I hope Perth become strong because east-west rivalry is important in football. If a sponsor has put in as much money as you say then they must see potential so I'm sure Perth can get back to the top. Crowd behaviour is the biggest obstacle in front of any a-league team becoming strong. What I have seen in the last week must surely have been another country.

Answer 2

Once they start to perform, then the crowd will come. 10% (or close to that) of Perths population are from Britain. 10%!! They will be hungry for live football, and will go along again. Some Aussie Rules fans might start going too now that the season is over.

Answer 3

As a Perth Glory member and long-time supporter, it disappoints me that our performances are just getting worse. It's a shame that while Australian football has taken off on the world stage (just look at how well the Socceroos and Matildas have been performing) the game has stagnated in a state that was once the national front-runner of the beautiful game.

Purely and simply, we need to start winning matches, and then the crowds will return, but in order to do this I think we need to do three things:

1. Find a striker who can consistently score goals.

2. Move Harnwell to the back

3. Find a new coach

We need strikers who can score goals - simple as that. Bring on Lisa de Vanna, perhaps??

Secondly, I think that while Jamie Harnwell is a crowd pleaser, he lacks attacking flair and does not score goals consistently enough to play regularly up front. Besides, with Tarka and Foxe injured, we need someone who can hold up the defence. It's bad enough we're not winning, but perhaps with more solid defending we wouldn't be losing either.

I also think Smith has had ample chance to build our team into a successful outfit, and has failed to do so. The strikers he has brought in this season are promising, but have not yet delivered for us. He seems to have a vision for the team, but the style of play is nothing like the Glory of old and does not seem to be working. Up to now I'd given him the benefit of the doubt, but I really think it's time to let him go and to find a powerhouse coach who will restore our club to its former...well, glory!