Background (1977–95) Perth first showed interest in joining the
National Soccer League (NSL) prior to its inaugural year in 1977, but a series of logistical and financial problems meant that the league was reluctant to include a Western Australian team. While the state representative side continued to perform well in national and international cup competitions, WA continued to be unrepresented in a national club league until 1994, when 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. 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. &
A-League Men Early seasons (1995–98) 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
1996–97 NSL season and on 1 December 1995 the club was officially launched. In the Glory's
inaugural season, players such as NSL-title-winning sweeper Vinko Buljubašić, Perth-based 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 its first match in the NSL, Perth Glory lost to
Sydney 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. Large 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 its 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. it was a disappointing season for the Glory.
Stange era (1998–2001) Fan support was further consolidated in the era of
Bernd Stange. The former
East German national coach became a media star after replacing Gary Marocchi who was sacked.
Mich d'Avray, a former
England under-21 international was appointed as Stange's assistant coach. In
his first season, Stange had taken Glory to its first-ever finals series and had fallen in the preliminary final against
Sydney United. With new signings
John Markovski and
Con Boutsianis fitting straight into the side, local player
Jamie Harnwell started to develop into a key defender and made the step to replace the injured Vinko Buljubašić. Unfortunately, a horror form slump at the height of summer denied the Glory a top-two place but massive crowds still attended its two home finals at the
WACA Ground against
Adelaide City and
Marconi Stallions. In the following
season, Glory recruited young players
Ivan Ergić,
Jason Petković and Olyroo
Kasey Wehrman. The club finished first in the regular season and were crowned
minor premiers for the first time, allowing them to enter the final series at the major semifinal. In the finals series, the Glory lost to
Wollongong Wolves 1–0 at Brandon Park, the Wolves' home ground, in the first leg of the major semifinal. The second leg of the major semifinal was held at
Subiaco Oval, rather than its regular venue
Perth Oval, to accommodate an expected larger crowd. In the match, Perth Glory won 2–0 over the Wolves, 2–1 on aggregate, to qualify for the grand final. The crowd of 42,764 was an Australian record for a club soccer match. In the wake of the record crowd, the Western Australian government announced a purpose-built stadium for the Glory in central Perth. The
1999–2000 grand final is remembered as one of the most thrilling matches in
NSL history. Perth again faced the
Wolves and led 3–0 at half time against a miserable Wolves outfit; thinking the game was won, Stange substituted key Glory players
Scott Miller, Bobby Despotovski and Ivan Ergić. Yet, the
Wolves rallied superbly and Perth experienced a series of defensive blunders to be pegged back to 3–3 at full-time. Perth subsequently lost on penalties, but this defining moment galvanised the team and would be a motivating force for years to come. James Afkos, a young defender and son of Glory co-owner Paul Afkos saw his penalty saved, which gave the win to the Wolves. The
Wolves side also featured players such as
Scott Chipperfield,
Sašo Petrovski as well as
Matt Horsley and
Stuart Young who would go on to play with the Glory in later years. The loss was a crushing blow to Glory but the team had done well despite problems Stange had with stars such as
Vas Kalogeracos and
Con Boutsianis who had both left the club. In spite of the loss, Stange was popular with the public but his time had come by the end of the
2000–01 season. Glory was too inconsistent during the season, suffering from more player disharmony involving Stange's tactics, and falling just short of a top-two spot. Glory had at times played good attacking football but proved unable to do so consistently. In the finals series, the Glory once again came up against the
Melbourne Knights and drew 0–0 in
Melbourne despite having Jamie Harnwell sent off. Following the match
Melbourne Knights fans attacked the team and their bus as they tried to leave Sunshine Stadium. It is believed that the fans were angered by a
Serbian salute made by Bobby Despotovski towards
Melbourne Knights fans, a club who traditionally has a large
Croatian support base. In the return leg Glory were eliminated following a 2–2 draw. The
Knights had gone into an early lead with goals in slippery conditions before two late goals to the Glory but it wasn't enough with the
Knights winning through the away goal rule. Despite signing high-profile recruits such as
Damian Mori (who had formed a prolific partnership with Bobby Despotovski upfront) and
Brad Maloney while also holding onto young star
Ljubo Miličević the Glory had underachieved and Stange was sacked by
Nick Tana.
D'Avray era and end of NSL (2001–04) Despite the flair of Stange's reign, it would take the more tactical approach of
Mich d'Avray to finally win the NSL Championship. While less flamboyant than his predecessor, d'Avray successfully transformed the team with a different strategy to the previous coaches. The attacking 5–3–2, which saw almost as many goals conceded as scored, was replaced with a 4–4–2. Some may argue that the team began to play a less attractive form of the game, but nobody could argue with the results. In 2001–2, the team nearly went the entire season undefeated with a side that only had former
Adelaide City midfielder Brad Hassell as a major addition. After scraping through in the second leg of the major semi-final against Newcastle, Glory faced
Sydney Olympic in the grand final at a sold-out
Subiaco Oval. While the 2000 Final was one of the great games of domestic Australian association football, the 2002 final was a tight and tense affair with Glory hardly getting a shot on target due to the fact that they lacked any bite in the midfield and had its two strikers marked out of the game.
Ante Milicic was on target for Olympic though and his goal early in the second half was enough for Olympic to win 1–0 and break the hearts of Glory fans once again. Maloney left the club at the end of the 2002 season but his replacement proved to be a key in Glory finally getting that elusive title. German midfielder
Andre Gumprecht was brought into the club thanks to Stange and made an instant impact. With the NSL disintegrating around them, Glory and Olympic were the only two semi-decent teams still left in the league to galvanise its midfield and fought it out for top spot all season. Glory missed out on the league title, finishing one point behind Olympic. In March 2003, the NSL stripped the club of three points after ruling that Gumprecht had been played before he had been registered. Glory picked up Socceroo
Simon Colosimo halfway through the season and eventually won the right to host the 2003 Grand Final after coming out on top of a new, confusing and convoluted league table finals format that had dragged a poor season out. In the Grand Final Glory took the game to Olympic and following a headed goal from in the first half from Harnwell it was all over late in the match when Mori saw his shot dribble over the line in dramatic fashion. 2–0 was the result and d'Avray had delivered the Grand Final victory Glory had yearned for. In the final NSL season in
2003–04, Glory only had
Parramatta Power as a huge threat with the Western Sydney club buying up big for the season. Players like
Fernando Rech,
Michael Beauchamp and
Ante Miličić were brought in along with Glory midfielders Gumprecht and Colosimo in what seemed to be a huge blow to the champions. In response to the plundering of its engine room d'Avray signed up Sydney Olympic title winners
Tom Pondeljak,
Wayne Srhoj and
Jade North while also getting former
Socceroo defender and West Australian
Shaun Murphy back from the United Kingdom. In a season where Glory again went head to head with a team from Sydney, Parramatta beat the Glory at home 4–2 and then away 2–0 to host the final ever NSL Grand Final. Glory thrashed
Adelaide United in the preliminary final and faced Parramatta at
Parramatta Stadium to try and go for back to back victories. In the pouring rain, Parramatta were brought down to the level of their opponents and scrapped for every ball in a match devoid of many chances. Mori wasted two sitters before young striker
Nick Mrđa nailed a shot past
Clint Bolton to claim the golden goal and win the match for Glory and its second NSL title. It was around 2001 that the league showed signs of significant deterioration. A combination of central mismanagement, conflicts of interest and poor sponsorship would eventually lead to a government inquiry and the removal of the leadership of
Soccer Australia. Eventually, the relaunched and renamed
Football Federation Australia announced the creation of the
A-League in 2005. The financial backing and business nous of chairman
Nick Tana had ensured the viability and success of the club during the earlier dire times – and ensured it a place in the future of the game in Australia.
Decline and ownership troubles (2005–09) In January 2005, former
Liverpool and
England star
Steve McMahon was appointed as coach. The club changed its name from the Perth Glory Soccer Club to the Perth Glory Football Club with a new logo being unveiled at a season launch in February. The
2005–06 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 A-League Pre-Season Challenge 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 percent 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. On 1 May 2006,
Football Federation Australia relieved owner
Nick Tana of ownership and management of Perth Glory. The
2006–07 season saw a host of changes. In July 2006,
Australian international
Stan Lazaridis signed a two-year deal. This was quickly followed by the appointment of
Ron Smith as head coach and Michelle Phillips as CEO on 26 July. Unfortunately, star youth player
Nick Ward did not honour his two-year contract and defied the advice of the
FFA and left for
Queens Park Rangers in England. In a major bonus for the Glory, longtime partner and sponsor Western QBE Insurance gave a show of faith and signed on as the club's major sponsor in round 18, until the end of the 2007–2008 season. Western QBE had previously been sponsor of the club since 1998, but decided against resigning a deal at the start of the 2006–2007 season, leaving the Glory in a very tough situation- without any sponsor or owners. But in December 2006, signs were shown that owners had been found by the FFA, and so
Western QBE were reinstated. The FFA (holders of the Perth Glory licence) announced on 23 February 2007 that the Glory was to be handed over to a triumvirate of owners:
Tony Sage, Brett McKeon and John Spence. This announcement ended almost a year of uncertainty. The new Glory owners were ambitious in their plans, bringing new hope to a club that was somewhat poor, both off the field and on, in 2006–07 season. The
2007–08 season saw the arrivals of new, promising additions to the side. The Glory signed
Anthony Danze,
Billy Celeski,
Dino Djulbic,
AIS graduate
Jimmy Downey,
Naum Sekulovski, former
Perth Soccer Club and
Young Socceroos goalkeeper
Tando Velaphi,
Nikita Rukavytsya,
Sydney FC player
Nikolai Topor-Stanley,
Milton Keynes Dons winger
Nick Rizzo,
Croatian striker
Mate Dragičević,
Hayden Foxe,
Mitchell Prentice and striker
James Robinson. Probably the biggest coup for the Glory for the 2007–08 season was the signing of a one-year sponsorship deal with
Singapore listed steel manufacturer Delong Holdings, worth
A$750,000, one of the biggest in the
A-League, who featured on the back of the Glory jersey. In the
2007 A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup, the Glory surprised many by making it to its second final, despite not playing a single game in Western Australia, which they lost 1–2 against
Adelaide United. The new league season started poorly for the Glory, winless after 12 rounds and attracting only four-figure attendances. As a result,
Ron Smith came under increasing pressure from fans and the media to deliver results. The team struggled to score goals, with
Mate Dragičević in particular becoming a figure of derision. Glory legend Bobby Despotovski publicly called for Smith to be replaced, and on 4 November, Smith was sacked as manager.
David Mitchell was handed the caretakers role for the rest of the season. A 4–1 thrashing of Newcastle in Mitchell's debut match bode well for times ahead, with Glory's first win at home in a year against Melbourne and Glory's first-ever league win over Sydney. Mitchell won four and drew two of the remaining 10 games of the 2007–08 season, with the club finishing 7th overall. The
2008–09 season preparations began much earlier than past seasons, with Perth Glory going on a three-game tour of
China in March, consisting of matches against
Changchun Yatai,
Guangzhou City and
Guangzhou Football Club. Perth Glory also made multiple new signings, including released
Eugene Dadi,
Adriano Pellegrino,
Adrian Trinidad,
Josip Magdić,
Naum Sekulovski,
Brazilian international midfielder
Amaral, youngster
Scott Bulloch and former Glory midfielder
Wayne Srhoj. Perth finished the season in 7th place, with 22 points. Glory once again started the season poor, though they did however finish the second half of the season strongly, winning 4 matches and drawing 3, securing 15 points in the last 11 rounds since November. In November, head coach Dave Mitchell signed a contract extension securing his services till the end of the 2010/11 season. Mitchell's contract extension, despite Glory's slow start, showed the new direction Glory's club was heading, of vision, but built on stable foundations. Promising signs on and off the field were shown this season and things progressed further with Tony Sage taking sole ownership of the club at season's end.
Back to Glory (2009–13) Former Perth Glory co-owner Brett McKeon sold his shareholding in the club to Tony Sage in February 2009, making Sage the sole owner of the club. As part of Glory's pre-season campaign, the club hosted English Premier League clubs
Wolverhampton Wanderers FC and
Fulham FC as well as new A-League franchise
North Queensland Fury for friendly matches in Perth in July. Although Glory went down 1–0 and 5–0 to Wolverhampton and Fulham respectively the event was a success attracting an average of 13,000 fans to
Perth Rectangular Stadium for both matches. Perth Glory continued their pre-season in Mandurah with a 1–0 victory against North Queensland Fury featuring Fury's marquee signing
Robbie Fowler. For season 2009–10, Perth Glory had undertaken an overhaul of the
club badge and playing kit, which includes vertical white and purple stripes on their home kit for the first time in the club's history. Tony Sage's promise to invest in the club by spending the full amount of money on players allocated under the A-League's
salary cap rule had eventuated with the club making key signings.
Victor Sikora was signed in February 2009 following a short term stint at Glory on loan from
FC Dallas during the latter part of the 2008–09 A-League season. Further international players were added to the squad with Serbian striker
Branko Jelić signed on a 3-year deal from
Energie Cottbus and Englishman
Andy Todd joining from
Derby County. Following up on an early season promise by Tony Sage to sign Socceroo players, Perth Glory had successfully secured the services of
Jacob Burns. In June 2009, in a bold move to attract attention for
2010 FIFA World Cup selection,
Mile Sterjovski joined the club on a marquee contract, while
Chris Coyne also announced his intentions by returning to his hometown club. Perth Glory's first match of the 2009–10 A-League season was played away at
Hindmarsh Stadium against
Adelaide United on 7 August 2009. This was the first season that Perth made the finals series in the A-League, finishing 5th on the ladder. The Glory were knocked out in the elimination final against
Wellington Phoenix on penalties. At the beginning of the
2010–11 season, Perth signed ex-North Queensland Fury manager
Ian Ferguson as the assistant coach, despite rumours circulating that Ferguson and new Glory signing
Robbie Fowler had a bad working relationship whilst at
North Queensland Fury. Glory signed veteran Jamie Harnwell to a new one-year deal for the 2010–11 season. The club also went on to sign Perth products
Jamie Coyne and
Todd Howarth to contract extensions, before signing left-back
Josh Mitchell and striker
Michael Baird, who had played together for Romanian club
Universitatea Craiova. On 27 April 2010, it was announced that Fowler had agreed to become part of Glory's squad for the 2010–11 A-League season. Fowler reportedly rejected offers from Middle East clubs to stay in Australia after enjoying his time in the country. After an initial strong start to the season as equal-top after a 5-game undefeated streak, Glory lost four matches in a row, forcing
David Mitchell to step down as coach, with assistant coach
Ian Ferguson becoming his replacement on 12 October 2010. After the managerial change, Glory lost another 3 games, to make it 7 losses consecutively. Glory finished second last in the season, after losing their last 5 games. Perth Glory's
2011–12 season featured several high-profile signings with Ian Ferguson signing a large number of overseas and local players, including former
Adelaide United player
Travis Dodd, former
Gold Coast United players
Bas van den Brink and
Shane Smeltz,
Brazilian player
Andrezinho, Irish international
Liam Miller and former
Ireland Under 21s player
Billy Mehmet. Several players were let go, including
Robbie Fowler and
Jamie Coyne. In the pre-season, Perth played Scottish giants
Celtic FC in front of 15,000 fans, with the Glory losing the friendly 0–2. Perth Glory's first match of the season was against Adelaide United at
nib Stadium, which they won 1–0. They later went on to defeat
Wellington Phoenix 1–0, to make it three wins in a row. Glory again slumped in form, winning one out of their last 9 matches including 7 defeats. With pressure mounting on coach
Ian Ferguson, on 19 December 2011, Glory Owner Tony Sage threatened to leave the club at the end of the season. However, after apologising and dismissing his threats as an emotional outburst, Glory went out to win 9 of their last 15 and finished third on the ladder, qualifying for the finals series for the second time in their A-League history. Glory's finals series kicked off with a 3–0 victory over
Melbourne Heart in a match at nib stadium. The semifinal was against their rivals Wellington at nib stadium, which the Glory won 3–2 in extra time. Perth then went to
Bluetongue Stadium to play
Central Coast Mariners in the preliminary final, the match the Glory won 1–1 (5–3, on penalties) to qualify for their first
A-League Grand Final. Against the
Brisbane Roar, in front of 50,334 people at
Suncorp Stadium, Perth went up 1–0 in the 53rd minute of the match. However, Brisbane's
Besart Berisha equalised in the 84th minute and eventually scored the winner in the dying seconds of the game through a controversial penalty.
Jacob Burns was awarded the
Joe Marston Medal for player of the match after it was accidentally awarded to Brisbane player,
Thomas Broich. For the
2012–13 season the Perth Glory owner, Tony Sage, put several players on reduced deals in order to save money. However, some players, such as
Andrezinho and
Scott Neville, did not accept the offers. Perth Glory also embarked on signing youth, players
Chris Harold and
Adrian Zahra were signed, while
Brandon O'Neill and
Ndumba Makeche were promoted from the youth squad. Perth Glory also won the Grand Final re-match, One goal to Nil, in Round One of the
season to hand "revenge" to the
Rado Vidošić led
Brisbane Roar. A string of poor performance throughout the season saw
Ian Ferguson sacked and replaced by former Perth Glory player,
Alistair Edwards. The club would then produce a string of good performances to make the finals before being eliminated at the hands of
Melbourne Victory, losing 1–2. At the beginning of the
2013–14 season, the club decided to dedicate the
number 12 shirt to the fans by not registering it to a player and having it listed as 'Glory Fans' when the squad is announced on match days. Alistair Edwards was sacked as Manager on 17 December 2013, and replaced on an interim basis by
Kenny Lowe. Many fans blamed
Jacob Burns for the sacking of
Alistair Edwards (with rumours of him being the leader of the uprising against Edwards). The club would finish 8th in another disappointing season, with at one stage, the club was sitting at the bottom of the table.
Lowe era (2013–18) The
2014–15 season showed much signs of promise. Irish international
Andy Keogh, Dutch international
Youssouf Hersi and returning goalkeeper
Danny Vukovic joined the squad in what would be Kenny Lowe's first full season as coach. Glory started the season on a high, quickly becoming league leaders and managing a run in the inaugural
2014 FFA Cup that reached the
final. Although they lost the cup final 1–0 to Adelaide United, it did not diminish their efforts in the league. However, the season quickly turned sour when
Fairfax Media reported Glory had gone over the salary cap.
Football Federation Australia investigated the claims before finding that the club had breached the salary cap by $400,000. As a result of the salary cap violations the club received a $269,000 fine and was disqualified from the 2015 finals series (resulting compulsory 7th-place finish despite ending the season in third place). On 16 April 2015, Perth's chief executive Jason Brewer announced his resignation. He was replaced by
Peter Filopoulos. The
2015–16 season was mostly a success, with the newly signed
Diego Castro winning the
Johnny Warren Medal for the
A-League best player. The club finished 5th, before losing 2–0 to the 3rd place
Melbourne City FC away from home. In the
FFA Cup the Glory again made the final, before going down 2–0 to
Melbourne Victory FC. The
2016–17 season started well with the signings of defender
Rhys Williams from English club
Middlesbrough and promising 19-year-old midfielder
Brandon Wilson, as well as the resigning of reigning Johnny Warren Medalist Diego Castro. After an inconsistent season the club finished 5th, with Castro sharing the club Golden Boot with
Andy Keogh and
Adam Taggart. They again faced
Melbourne City in the elimination final, with the club shock winners 2–0 away from home to set up a semi-final with the newly crowned
A-League Premiers Sydney FC. Sydney took a 3–0 halftime lead which they never relinquished, the Glory falling one game short of their second A-League Grand Final. The
2017–18 season got off to a very bad start, the club losing 1–0 in the first round of the FFA Cup to
NPL Victoria club
Heidelberg United, despite twin Spanish signings of
Andreu Guerao and
Xavi Torres, as well as
Mitch Nichols and
Scott Neville. After slumping to a 6–0 defeat mid-season at the hands of
Sydney FC the Glory, and with mounting pressure on coach
Kenny Lowe after entering into a battle for bottom spot on the ladder, the Glory signed
Neil Kilkenny from Melbourne City whose arrival provided much needed strength in the midfield and coincided with a positive turnaround in form. After defeating eventual Grand Finalists
Melbourne Victory FC and
Newcastle Jets FC in the closing rounds, the Glory entered the final round with a win against the Brisbane Roar at home netting them the last spot in the finals. The Glory went down 2–3, slumping to 8th position on the ladder. Following a mostly unsuccessful season coach
Kenny Lowe was removed as coach and CEO
Peter Filopoulos resigned to move back to Victoria to take up the CEO role with
Football Federation Victoria, but not before (alongside Head of Football, Jacob Burns) overseeing the appointment of new head coach,
Tony Popovic. During Peter's time as CEO, membership grew by 50%, the club moved into a new training and administration HQ sharing with
Western Force and the club business operations improved significantly. Kenny Lowe took up a role as technical director of the club's junior academy. In May 2018,
Tony Pignata replaced Peter Filopoulos as CEO of the club. In November, it was confirmed that former player
Steven McGarry would become the Technical Director within Glory's youth structure, at the same time leading the Under-18 team. Former player
Richard Garcia was also confirmed as assistant coach of both the senior team and head coach of the youth team.
Popovic era and the return of success (2018–20) The
2018–19 season and the start of the
Tony Popovic era at the club showed many signs of promise. New players were brought into the squad including three-time A-League champion
Ivan Franjic, former
Socceroo Tomislav Mrcela,
Western Sydney's all-time top goal scorer
Brendon Santalab,
Champions League winner
Matthew Spiranovic, former
Premier League player
Jason Davidson, Socceroo
Chris Ikonomidis and former
La Liga player
Juande. The season started with a pre-season friendly loss against
Chelsea, with the match ending 0–1. Popovic's first competitive game in charge was an
FFA Cup fixture in the Round of 32 against
Melbourne Victory, where the Glory lost 0–1. Perth started the regular A-League season strongly not losing their opening eight fixtures, the only team to do so that season. With two games to spare, Perth Glory confirmed their place at the top of the A-League, becoming the 2018–19 Premiers with a 1–0 win over
Newcastle Jets, ending a 15-year trophy drought. The regular season ended with Perth winning 18 out of 27 matches in the league and only losing three games total, with only one away from home, earning a club record of 60 points overall. This also secured them a spot in their first continental competition, the
2020 AFC Champions League. The Grand Final, played against 2nd-placed
Sydney, was hosted in Perth for the first time in the A-League era and the fourth time overall, with a record-breaking attendance of 56,371. Despite many chances for Perth to score and a controversial goal disallowed for being offside for Sydney, For the
2019–20 season, new, promising players were brought into the squad. In March 2019, Perth confirmed they had signed
Melbourne City FC striker
Bruno Fornaroli on a two-year deal. Perth also signed other players including
Brisbane Roar pair
Dane Ingham and
Nicholas D'Agostino, former Melbourne City defender
Osama Malik,
Swiss international
Gregory Wüthrich and
Socceroo James Meredith. Pre-season involved a friendly against Premier League giants,
Manchester United which ended 2–0 to United. In the
FFA Cup, Perth went down 1–2 in the round of 32 against the Western Sydney Wanderers. Following a poor start to the season, the Glory went on a ten match undefeated streak, moving into 2nd place after a draw against Brisbane Roar in round 20. In February 2020,
Tony Sage confirmed that a majority of his stake in the club was set to be sold to the London Football Exchange, a football-based
cryptocurrency exchange, a deal that eventually fell through due to growing speculation over the legitimacy of the sale. A drop in form occurred before the season was temporarily suspended due to the
COVID-19 outbreak, as well as a 0–1 loss in the Glory's debut in the AFC Champions League against
FC Tokyo. After the restart of the season, the Glory lost key players, such as Wuthrith and Castro, due to the ending of contracts and the inability of the club to meet wage demands due to the loss of revenue caused by the
pandemic. The club was also in poor form and were conceding a high number of goals, eventually barely qualifying for the Finals series, finishing in 6th place. The Finals series saw the Glory win 1–0 against the 3rd placed
Wellington Phoenix in the elimination final. The Glory's ambition of going one further from the previous season ended after losing 0–2 against the premiers and eventual champions, Sydney FC, in the semi-final. A few days after this match, the club confirmed that Tony Popovic had left the club to take up a management role in the
Greek club
Xanthi, ending his successful two-year tenure with the club. His first competitive games in charge was at the
2020 AFC Champions League group stage whose final stages were held in Qatar due to an initial postponement due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Here, Glory earned its first ever point in continental competition after a
3–3 draw with
Shanghai Shenhua. Perth was eliminated in the group stage in its debut
AFC Champions League season, after finishing 4th in its group with one point to its name. Garcia's
first full season in charge was mainly a disappointment. Inconsistent performances led to the Glory missing out on finals for the first time in three seasons and finishing in 9th, its second-lowest finishing position in its history at the time. In March 2022, Garcia was terminated as coach after a poor start to his
second season in charge and replaced by former player
Ruben Zadkovich in a caretaker capacity. The 2021–22 season ended with Glory finishing bottom of the league for the first time in its history. Glory also failed to qualify for the
2022 Australia Cup, having lost to
Newcastle Jets in the post-season play-off. Despite only recording one win in his tenure at the time, Zadkovich was confirmed as full-time coach in June 2022. In Zadkovich's
first and only season as permanent head coach, the Glory continued its run of poor results and performances, leaving Perth at the bottom of the table at the start of the
2022 World Cup break. Additionally, star striker
Bruno Fornaroli was released following an alleged contract dispute, leaving the team with few recognised goal-scoring forwards. The club would eventually finish the season in 9th place, failing to qualify for the Finals series for a third-straight season. This was despite a relatively successful run of results at the club's temporary home ground,
Macedonia Park, where it played most home matches this season due to renovations occurring at
Perth Rectangular Stadium for the
2023 Women's World Cup. Zadkovich departed the club at the end of the 2022–23 season. Former manager
Kenny Lowe took charge of the club on an interim basis, overseeing the friendly against
West Ham United and Australia Cup play-off against
Macarthur in July 2023. In July 2023,
Tony Sage stepped down as chairman of the club. On 3 August 2023, Perth Glory announced
Alen Stajcic as the club's new manager. On 17 October 2023, Robert Brij was announced as the new owner of the club. However, on 13 November 2023, the sale was terminated, leaving the club without an owner to start the
new season. On 16 February 2024, the Pelligra Group was named the new owner of the club. The 2023–24 season went poorly overall, with the club finishing last for the second time in three seasons. On 25 June 2024, after one season at the club, the club announced Stajcic's departure. On 28 June 2024,
David Zdrilic was announced as the club's new head coach, following a stint as assistant at
Sydney FC. Zdrilic's first competitive game in charge was an
Australia Cup play-off match against
Brisbane Roar in
Darwin. Perth emerged
2–4 victors, securing a spot in the competition's round of 32, with their first win in the competition since 2016. However, the 2024–25 A-League season would result in the club finishing last on the table for the third time in four seasons. On 28 October 2025, the club announced that Zdrilic was relieved of his duties and that
Adam Griffiths would take over as interim head coach. In December, after winning 3 out of 5 matches and taking the team up from 12th place to 5th place,
The West Australian reported that Griffiths was to be appointed full-time coach. On 16 December, the club confirmed Griffiths as full-time coach until the end of the 2025–26 A-League season, with the option to extend. ==Name, colours and badge==