In most cases a press conference is just an official statement on what most of the journalists present already knew, and the announcement by the Perth Glory that Fulham were coming and that Jacob Burns had signed was pretty much more of the same.
However there was a new vibe, a positive one. When the Glory had three owners you forever had the problem that they would all say different things that gave the impression that there was disagreement, or a lack of communication.
At this press conference we did not have to suffer any references to the sport we don’t mention, it was all about football. Tony Sage was strong in his message that the facilities here are not up to scratch and that if the government do not pull their finger out it will be a long time before we see top quality football in Perth, and that includes the Socceroos. He is right on the money, and he has put his money where his mouth is. Now it is time for everyone else to come forward and give the support they have offered and time to stop talking about ‘ifs.’
Lui Guiliani also showed the leadership the club has lacked in recent years when he threw down a challenge to the public. “ You have asked for this now come and support it.”
There is far more at stake than supporting the Perth Glory or watching two English Premier League teams in action. These games must be supported by all those who want a rectangular stadium. It is time to show the other code that theirs is not the sport that dominates this town. Given the chance Rugby and Football if given the ground and equal media exposure will match them in terms of popularity.
It is vital to the future of top level sport in Western Australia. The FFA have said that they will never bring the Socceroos to Perth as long as Subiaco is the main stadium. The best we can hope for is a midweek fixture made up of A league players against a team such as New Zealand that they would play at Members Equity.
The ridiculous thing is if they had a venue in Perth, when the Socceroos returned to Australia for key qualification matches Perth is a better option as it reduces the flying time for the European based players, which their clubs would be more than happy about.
So people of Perth if you want top level sport played on rectangular pitches, whether or not you like Football, the Perth Glory, Wolves or Fulham be sure to get to Members Equity stadium for these three games and ensure that the extra capacity being arranged is full to the max.
