Perth Glory

Perth Oval (Capacity: 20.500)

Perth Glory - Central Coast Mariners (1:0) (A-League, 11. March 2012)
1:0 Dodd (25.)

Attendance: 6.502
Cost: $27AUD
Programme: Glory Days ($5)

Entry to the ground through here

 

Players warming up

 

No technology with this scoreboard

 

Players entering the pitch

 

Goal to Perth!

 

View of the pitch

 

The away fan block

 

Another view of the pitch

 

The Shed

 

Sun setting on nib Stadium

 

Well earned victory for Perth

 

Looking up at into the grandstands

CLUB HISTORY: (wiki) Perth Glory Football Club is a professional football (soccer) club in Perth, Western Australia, Australia, competing in Australia's top football (soccer) competition the A-League. Perth Glory is one of only three clubs to survive from the now defunct National Soccer League. The other clubs included Adelaide United and the Newcastle Jets.
Perth first showed interest in joining the National Soccer League in its inaugural year in 1977. However, a series of logistical problems and financial concerns meant that the league was not keen to include a Western Australian (WA) side. While the state representative side continued to perform well in national and international cup competitions, WA continued to be unrepresented at a senior club level until 1994.
In 1994, a group of businessmen led by Joe Claudio formed the Perth Kangaroos IFC. The club competed in the 1994 Singapore Premier League along with the Darwin Cubs. At the time, there were visions of establishing an Asia-Pacific Super League which could become a sporting and financial empire in the east. It turned out to be something of a farce. The Kangaroos finished the league season undefeated and easily won the Singapore league title. However, with dwindling support and resources, the experiment proved to be a financial disaster and Perth Kangaroos IFC soon folded.
In 1995, another consortium led by Nick Tana made a bid for entry into the National Soccer League. Perth Glory was subsequently licensed to join the 1996/7 NSL season. From a relatively unheralded start, the club would develop beyond all expectations and establish the game in a state where Australian rules football dominated and Rugby league was about to fail.
Former Adelaide City player and Perth Kangaroos coach Gary Marocchi was appointed coach for the first two seasons and won many fans with his bold, attacking style. Initially believed to be nothing more than a token participant, Perth surprised many by only just missing the cut for the finals; finishing 7th and 8th in 1996-97 and 1997-98 respectively. The exciting style of "you score three, we score four" drew fans - including many British expatriates.
Players like NSL-title-winning sweeper Vinko Buljubasic, Perth born striker Bobby Despotovski and young local star Vas Kalogeracos were brought into the team and achieved cult status. New Zealand international Gavin Wilkinson was also signed while local midfielder Gareth Naven was appointed captain.
In their first match in the NSL, Perth Glory lost to UTS Olympic 4-1, with veteran Scot Alan MacKenzie scoring the first goal for Glory and Doug Ithier winning the first Man-of-the-Match award. Huge crowds and good results soon followed with an exciting win over defending champions the Melbourne Knights thrilling a huge crowd.
Glory needed only a point in their final match of the season but were defeated by the Knights and fell just short of making the finals. Glory midfielder Paul Strudwick was sent off during the match in controversial circumstances while trouble in the crowd also marred the match.
In the 1997/98 season, despite again narrowly missing the top six and signing more high-profile players like Ernie Tapai, Danny Hay and Nigerians Samson Siasia and Peter Anosike it was a disappointing season for the Glory.
In 2005, it was announced that former Liverpool and England star Steve McMahon would be appointed as coach. The new season saw a complete overhaul of the playing squad, with Simon Colosimo and former Sunderland and Leeds striker Brian Deane as key signings. Other notable signings included future young stars Nick Ward and Billy Celeski.
Early results in friendlies against local opposition were not great, but Perth became the first team to defeat Sydney FC, winning 1-0 in the semi-final of the 2005-06 Pre-season Cup before losing in the final 0-1 to the Central Coast Mariners. Perth's woeful recruiting strategy was soon evident with the early departure of star import Brian Deane after seven games. Another McMahon recruit, Northern Ireland junior international Neil Teggart, quit the club prior to the start of the regular season. Deane was replaced by Damian Mori, a former Perth Glory striker. Originally on a three-game temporary contract, after some impressive performances Mori stayed for the rest of the season and finished with seven goals.
However, the club continued to be dogged by problems which would only be later revealed to the public. Steve McMahon was subject to constant media criticism over his coaching style and was accused of nepotism by signing his son, Steve McMahon Jr, who was of questionable talent. Rumours also surfaced that players were planning to stage a revolt against the coach. On 7 December, the club reported that the parties had "amicably" chosen to go separate ways. On 9 December 2005, the club announced that assistant coach Alan Vest would move into the head coach role for the remainder of the season, with striker Damian Mori taking on a dual role as player-coach after being named as his assistant.
The coach's departure was merely a symptom of deeper troubles. Poor performances saw Perth miss out on qualification for the finals for the first time since 1998. Dwindling support from chairman Nick Tana, as he looked to sell his 75% stake in the club, seemed to underpin a general decline in club fortunes. After the Round 20 match against Sydney FC, Alan Vest hinted that the current player group were incapable of achieving anything better and stated that "cliques" had been formed undermining club harmony. To cap off a bad season, Western QBE announced they were withdrawing as major sponsor after being associated with the club for 8 years.

HONOURS:
NSL
Champions (2) (Finals Series Winners): 2003, 2004
Runners-up (2) (Losing Grand Finalist): 2000, 2002
Premier (3) (League Winners): 2000, 2002, 2004
A-League
Runners-up (2) (Pre-Season Cup): 2005, 2007

STADIUM HISTORY: (wiki) Perth Oval, known by its sponsored name nib Stadium since July 2010, is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. It has been the home of A-League club Perth Glory since 1996 and has housed the administrative facilities of the Western Australia Rugby League since 2003. It was known as Loton Park between 1906 and about 1910 (this name still refers to adjacent tennis courts and a small area of open space next to the stadium). As part of a previous naming rights deal with ME Bank it was known as Members Equity Stadium and ME Bank Stadium.
In sports mode the stadium has a capacity of over 18,000. Soccer team Perth Glory has played at the ground since 1996. The stadium is unusual among modern Australian stadiums for having a standing terrace at the northern end of the ground. A covered terrace area known as The Shed is the home of the vocal supporters of Perth Glory FC.
The ground has hosted rugby union team Western Force since 2010. The Force's move to the stadium led to a minor redevelopment of facilities at the ground, including an increase in capacity and improved lighting.
From 2008 the stadium has hosted WA Reds home matches in the Bundaberg Red Cup. Five NRL games have been played at the oval, with one match each season since 2009.
The land on which the stadium is built was known as Loton's Paddock after the previous owner William Loton, Lord Mayor of Perth. The Paddock had been reclaimed from part of Stone's Lake, which was part of a lake system known as The Great Lakes District which included Lake Monger and Herdsman Lake.
Thorley sold the land to the City of Perth in 1904 with the purpose of providing recreation for the residents of the area. After the 2004 redevelopment part of the ground reverted to public open space and was co-named Loton Park to honour Loton and Yoordgoorading as a reference to the original Indigenous inhabitants of the land.
In the early 1930s large white entry gates were built on the north west corner of the ground. These have since been heritage listed.
Soccer was an early tenant at Loton Park, playing regular matches as early as 1903, when over 2,000 spectators attended a Charity Cup match between Olympic FC and Civil Service.
In 1905 the land was offered to the WA British Football Association but the asking price was considered too high.
Perth Oval was the scene of a humiliation in 1927 when the WA State team were thrashed 11–3 by Bohemians, a team representing Czechoslavakia.
Prior to the 2004 redevelopment, Perth Oval was oval-shaped, and when Perth Glory FC entered the NSL in 1996, temporary stands were moved onto the pitch to get supporters closer to the action. After playing in these conditions for four years, it became apparent that the Glory would need their own rectangular stadium and after Glory's proposed redevelopment of Leederville Oval was rejected, the Town of Vincent completely overhauled the ground into a rectangular stadium.
In 1956 the F.D. Book Stand was built as part of East Perth Football Club's golden jubilee celebrations. It was named after administrator Fred Book, who was instrumental in ensuring Perth Oval stayed as a sporting ground during World War II.
The ground was briefly used as a home base for East Perth's WAFL rivals West Perth and Perth. Six West Australian Football League Grand Finals were played at Perth Oval, the first being in 1912 and the last in 1935.
Perth Oval was home to Western Australian Grade Cricket teams North Perth and University. North Perth played at the oval between 1910 and 1975 and University between 1913 and 1929.
Rugby was played at Perth Oval as early as 1905.
The ground has occasionally been used by the Western Australian Rugby Union to host state league finals matches at least as far back as 1940.
Perth Spirit played at Perth Oval during the 2007 Australian Rugby Championship.
The record crowd for the ground was 26,760 for the 31 May 1969 derby Australian football match between East Perth and West Perth. The record soccer crowd for a match at the ground, is 18,067 in the 1998–99 NSL season against South Melbourne FC. The record sporting crowd at the venue since the redevelopment is 19,279 in a Super 14 game between the Western Force and Crusaders on 24 April 2010.