Perth Glory’s tag line for the 2015/16 A League season is “The West v the Rest.” Questionable as to why a sporting club would need such a thing, but understandable that Perth Glory would try and create such a siege mentality. A club everyone hates, who get’s bum decisions and is constantly prejudiced against maybe angles to convince some who will sign up and support such a belief, but most fans these days are far wiser.
Sir Alex Ferguson used this approach with great success at Aberdeen as he tried to wrestle a Championship and attention away from Celtic and Rangers. He used it again at Manchester United reminding players how everyone except united fans wanted to see them lose and loved it when they did.
Perth Glory are a long way from being Manchester United. They used to be a team that was feared in the NSL, their ground was a venue that few teams managed to leave with a victory, but was one they all wanted to play at because it had the biggest crowd and the best fans, witty and loud.
Times have changed and the A-League has not been kind to Perth Glory. The club will tell you the FFA has not been kind, but much of their undoing is of their own making. What is sickening and insulting to many fans is reading ill-informed propaganda from a respected journalist on the East coast about their club.
Mike Cockerill has for many years been one of the top football writers in Australia but his recent article published on WA Today’s website is simply not true. He states in this article “An owner who loves his club, pays his bills, and fights on the club’s behalf should be revered by the fans.”
The owner did not pay Ian Ferguson and his assistant Stuart Munro what was owed to them when he fired them. Both accepted well below what was due to them deciding that this was better than having to fight for what was contractually owed. Gareth Naven and Alistair Edwards opted to go to court, and Dave Mitchell is still waiting.
In 2013 the State Government wrote off almost $250,000 after Tony Sage’s Perth Glory refused to pay a bill for taxpayer-funded public transport for home games at NIB Stadium worth nearly $400,000. Not surprisingly the agreement between the two was terminated and fans now have to sort out their own way of getting to the stadium.
Mr Cockerill must still believe in Father Christmas and the Easter Bunny if he honestly believes that Tony Sage did not know about the salary cap breaches of last season. Ask anyone involved at the club and they will tell you that not a payment is made without the owner’s approval. Let us also not forget that some of the alleged rorting exposed happened before the scapegoat, Jason Brewer, was even employed as CEO. Such as Robbie Fowler and Steve McGarry sharing accommodation, Mr Sage’s St George’s Terrace apartment, and also Ryo Nagai living in Perth Glory’s administration offices. What is more amazing is that Mr Cockerill’s employer Fairfax Media exposed the salary cap breaches and strongly implicated the club’s owner, so does he not believe his fellow journalists?
According to Mr Cockerill “He’s not getting ready to sell,” If this were true who paid to produce a prospectus on the club looking for a buyer to invest $14million? (“80% equity purchased for US$11million”) Why would you go to such lengths to produce a detailed 42 page document if the club was not for sale? This was prepared in April 2015, although as the document states the owner was “targeting financial close in late June 2015,” before this current A-League season started.
The same document states that Expressions of interest were due by May 2015 as well as “Due diligence materials provided,” and “submissions of initial offers.” These terms appear to indicate a man very much ready to sell.
The one thing that Mr Cockerill does get right is that the new CEO Peter Filopoulos is trying to right the ship and is making all of the right noises. He wrote “expect Filopoulos to usurp Sage as the face of the Glory as the club rebuilds the bridges.” As stated previously that is a path fraught with danger. There is a reason that fans have had to put up with hearing more from the owner than the CEO in the past, and that is because he loves the attention, and it raises his personal profile. Also he is always bound to give a good sound byte, even if it contradicts a previous one. A good test would be to see if the media ignored and stopped speaking to the owner, and only spoke to the CEO, whether that would indeed hasten the sale.
Finally Mr Cockerill mentions the club turning twenty, and the plans to celebrate those players who made the club into one of the most respected in Perth prior to its recent trials and tribulations. Let us hope that this time they do it properly. Last season the club attempted to acknowledge the players who played for the Perth Kangaroos, a team that helped hasten Perth Glory into the NSL, and a team from which many became Perth Glory players. It was a disaster, when the players arrived at the ground no one knew who they were or where they should go, and when they finally found their box, the were expected to pay for their own drinks. Most left vowing not to return.
This has been one of the reasons that Perth Glory has lost so many fans, supporters and sponsors, they do not do things properly. It appears that they are always trying to do things on the cheap, and that leaves people with a sour taste in their mouths. Certainly many no longer feel a part of what was once a club that connected with not only the city but Western Australia, they certainly no longer have pride in what it represents.
As one fan put it ‘I support the team, but not the administration.’ There are plenty who still support the team and want to see them do well but many will continue to stay at home and watch Perth Glory until a new owner is found.
Mr Cockerill claimed in his article that the Perth Glory “deserve a bit more love than they’ve been getting.” Many fans feel that it is in fact the other way around, that they are the ones who deserve a bit more love than they are getting, and it would be hard to argue with them. Sadly unless you are close to the club over here in the West you may struggle to understand that, as was clear in what appeared to be no more than another propaganda piece on the ailing club.
I agree that very few people hate Perth Glory outside of Perth, as the team has done little for anyone to hate them, but that is the hype that is built up over here. I agree 100% often its a case of using anything to deflect from the reality. Thanks for your comment.
It’s hard to tell the truth in a one-team town, so good work, Ashley.
Also, as a resident of Melbourne who lived in Perth for a long time, I think it’s pretty clear why clubs go the siege mentality route – it’s better than the reality. Which engenders more team support, camaraderie, etc.in Perth – being hated or being disregard/ignored? Obvious answer to obvious question. (Same for all sports and in life, really – almost nobody over here “hates WA,” they just don’t think about them.)
Spot on. After the lying and cheating of last season I have had enough with Tony Sage’s Perth Glory. When I failed to renew me membership did anyone contact me to ask why? No. Was I offered an incentive to renew? No. Last season I paid good money to watch a series of what were ultimately friendly matches. Will I be going back soon? No.
I hate the way East Coast journalists write such crap. Some of them come here for two days watch one game and then form an opinion based on talking to Sage and one other person. They always seem to be blinded by Sage and write stories that make him out to be hard done by. The guy has singlehandedly screwed up the club and he has to go! The FFA need to remove him as soon as possible and the crowds will come back. Cockerill lost credibility when he was working for the FFA and Fox, how could he possibly have any objectivity?