1996–97 Perth Glory SC season

Perth Glory
1996–97 season
ChairmanNick Tana
Paul Afkos
Head CoachGary Marocchi
StadiumPerth Oval
National Soccer League7th
Top goalscorerBobby Despotovski (14)

The 1996–97 season was Perth Glory's first season in the National Soccer League and first overall season in the top flight of Australian soccer.

Background

See also: Perth Glory FC § History

After a number of years of speculation around a team from Perth, Perth businessmen, Nick Tana and Paul Afkos put in a bid to join the 1996–97 A-League (as the NSL was known after being relaunched for the 1995–96 season) in late 1995. Arena Investments, a company owned by Tana and Afkos, had stepped in to invest in the Perth Kangaroos IFC after the initial investors of the 1994 FAS Premier League champions pulled out. On 1 December 1995, the name Perth Glory was announced and is considered to be the club's foundation date.[1][2][3][4]

Review

Pre-season

To allow the club to prepare for their first season, the Glory were excused from participation in the 1996–97 National Cup in September and October 1996. Instead the Glory played a number of friendly matches, starting with a match against Italian team Sampdoria which they lost 3–0. This was the only match that the club lost in the leadup to the season, with a series of matches against Western Australian opposition all ending in wins to the Glory.[5][6]

October

The league season began with a match against UTS Olympic at Perth Oval. The ground was ordinarily an Australian rules football ground so temporary seating was brought in to make a smaller arena for soccer. A crowd of 9639 saw the Glory lose 4–1 to Olympic, with Alan MacKenzie scoring a late consolation goal.[7][8]

April

The Glory entered the final round of the season needing just one point to secure a finals position. However they were defeated 3–1 by the Melbourne Knights after being reduced to ten players, in front of a crowd of 10,000 at knights stadium.[9][10]

Players

Further information: Perth Glory FC § Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
6 DF Australia AUS Gareth Naven
7 DF Australia AUS Scott Miller
10 FW Australia AUS Bobby Despotovski
— DF Australia AUS Vladimir Beretovac
— DF Australia AUS Vinko Buljubasic
— MF Australia AUS Anthony Carbone
— MF Australia AUS Doug Ithier
— FW Australia AUS Vasilio Kalogeracos
— FW Scotland SCO Alan MacKenzie
No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK Australia AUS Vince Matassa
— GK Australia AUS Tom Maras
— DF Australia AUS Craig Naven
— FW Australia AUS Paul Strudwick
— DF Australia AUS Peter Vukmirovic
— MF New Zealand NZL Gavin Wilkinson
— DF Australia AUS Dale Wingell
— MF Australia AUS Marc Wingell

Transfers

Transfers in

No. Position Player Transferred from Type/fee Date Ref
— DF Vinko Buljubasic Melbourne Knights Undisclosed July 1996 [11]
10 FW Bobby Despotovski Gippsland Falcons Undisclosed July 1996 [11]
— FW Doug Ithier Australia Floreat Athena Undisclosed July 1996 [11]
— FW Vasilios Kalogeracos Australia Floreat Athena Undisclosed July 1996 [11]
— MF Paul McVittie Australia Stirling Lions Undisclosed July 1996 [11]
7 DF Scott Miller Gippsland Falcons Undisclosed July 1996 [11]
— GK Robert Zabica Australia Cockburn City Undisclosed July 1996 [11]

Transfers out

No. Position Player Transferred to Type/fee Date Ref
— MF Paul McVittie Australia Inglewood United Undisclosed April 1997 [11]
— GK Robert Zabica Australia Cockburn City Undisclosed April 1997 [11]

Match results

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Preseason matches

Date Opponents Venue Result Scorers Ref
31 May 1996 Sampdoria WACA Ground 0–3 [12]
5 September 1996 Swan IC Ashfield Reserve 3–1 Nick Lazarevski (2), Bobby Despotovski [13]
8 September 1996 Floreat Athena Lake Monger Velodrome 7–0 Bobby Despotovski (2), Gary Lees (2), Paul Strudwick, Scott Miller, Alex Novatsis (og) [14]
10 September 1996 Morley-Windmills Ashfield Reserve 12–0 Bobby Despotovski (6), Nick Lazarevski (3), Paul Strudwick, Paul McVittie, Scott Miller [15]
14 September 1996 Inglewood Falcons 2–0 Scott Miller, Doug Ithier [16]
17 September 1996 Spearwood Dalmatinac Ashfield Reserve 3–0 Bobby Despotovski, Spase Najdovski, Peter Vukrimovic [17]
22 September 1996 Sorrento Kiev Sports Centre 6–0 Doug Ithier, Bobby Despotovski (3), Spase Najdovski, Paul McVittie [18]
26 September 1996 WA State Amateur team Kiev Sports Centre 4–0 Dale Wingell, Paul McVittie, Vladimir Beretovac, Scott Miller [19]
30 September 1996 Bayswater Panthers all-stars Bayswater Oval 3–0 Bobby Despotovski (2), Alan MacKenzie [20]
2 October 1996 WA State Amateur team Ashfield Reserve 6–0 Alan MacKenzie (3), Bobby Despotovski (2), Dale Wingell [21]
6 October 1996 WA State team Bayswater Oval 5–0 Paul Strudwick (2), Bobby Despotovski, Dale Wingell, Gareth Naven [22]

League results

Round Date Opponent Venue Result[23] Scorers Attendance Referee Ref
1 13 October 1996 UTS Olympic Home 1–4 Alan MacKenzie 9,639 Lennie [24]
2 20 October 1996 West Adelaide Away 1–3 Paul Strudwick 3,527 Brazzale [25]
3 26 October 1996 Newcastle Breakers Away 3–1 Paul Strudwick, Bobby Despotovski (2) 3,750 Micallef [26]
4 3 November 1996 Canberra Cosmos Home 6–0 Paul McVittie, Bobby Despotovski (2), Dale Wingell, Gareth Naven, Scott Miller 8,053 Panella [27]
5 10 November 1996 Collingwood Warriors Away 0–0 5,504 Dade [28]
6 16 November 1996 Gippsland Falcons Home 2–3 Vas Kalogeracos, Paul Strudwick 6,299 Gorton [29][30]
7 23 November 1996 Sydney United Away 2–4 Paul Strudwick, Vas Kalogeracos 3,450 Diomis [31]
8 1 December 1996 Adelaide City Home 2–1 Gavin Wilkinson, Bobby Despotovski 9,765 Lennie [32]
9 7 December 1996 Brisbane Strikers Away 5–1 Gavin Wilkinson, Bobby Despotovski (2), Vas Kalogeracos, Paul Strudwick 4,028 Shield [33]
10 14 December 1996 Wollongong City Home 3–1 Paul Strudwick, Bobby Despotovski (2) 10,281 Lennie [34]
11 21 December 1996 South Melbourne Away 0–1 7,896 Brazzale [35]
12 28 December 1996 Melbourne Knights Home 3–2 Paul McVittie, Vas Kalogeracos, Scott Miller 14,759 Gorton [36]
13 4 January 1997 Marconi-Fairfield Away 2–1 Vas Kalogeracos (2) 5,419 Micallef [37][38]
14 12 January 1997 Marconi-Fairfield Home 1–1 Paul Strudwick 17,582 Brazzale [39]
15 2 February 1997 UTS Olympic Away 2–0 David Barrett (og), Bobby Despotovski 7,124 Hugo [40][41]
16 9 February 1997 West Adelaide Home 1–1 Vas Kalogeracos 15,737 Lennie [42]
17 15 February 1997 Newcastle Breakers Home 0–2 11,546 Dade [43]
18 22 February 1997 Canberra Cosmos Away 1–4 Bobby Despotovski 2,000 Brazzale [44][45]
19 2 March 1997 Collingwood Warriors Home 0–2 10,964 Panella [46][47]
20 9 March 1997 Gippsland Falcons Away 1–1 Alan MacKenzie 2,149 Diomis [48]
21 15 March 1997 Sydney United Home 3–1 Vas Kalogeracos (2), Dale Wingell 11,644 Connolly [49][50]
22 23 March 1997 Adelaide City Away 1–1 Bobby Despotovski 5,253 Micallef [51]
23 30 March 1997 Brisbane Strikers Home 0–2 12,858 Dade [52]
24 6 April 1997 Wollongong City Away 3–1 Bobby Despotovski (2), Gavin Wilkinson 3,158 Dade [53]
25 12 April 1997 South Melbourne Home 4–0 Vas Kalogeracos (3), Con Blatsis (og) 15,197 Hugo [54]
26 20 April 1997 Melbourne Knights Away 1–3 Tony Carbone 10,000 Micallef [55][56]

Statistics

Leading goalscorers

Player details

List of squad players, including number of appearances by competition

Nat Pos Name Appearances Goals
Australia GK Vince Matassa 11 0
Australia GK Tom Maras 8 0
Australia GK Robert Zabica 7 0
New Zealand DF Gavin Wilkinson 24 3
Australia Vladimir Beretovac 13 0
Australia Vinko Buljubasic 25 0
Australia Tony Carbone 8 1
Australia Doug Ithier 12 0
Australia Paul McVittie 25 2
Australia Scott Miller 26 2
Australia MF Gareth Naven 25 1
Australia Craig Naven 25 0
Australia Paul Strudwick 23 7
Australia Peter Vukrimovic 6 2
Australia Dale Wingell 25 2
Australia Marc Wingell 2 0
Scotland FW Alan MacKenzie 12 2
Australia FW Vasilios Kalogeracos 20 12
Australia FW Bobby Despotovski 23 14

Statistics accurate to end of 1996–97 NSL season[58]

References

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  7. ^ Moffatt, Mel (11 October 1996). "Perth's Colour Splash". The West Australian – via Factiva. SA technical director Peter Russell inspected the ground on Wednesday and expressed extreme satisfaction with the changes, which include the erection of 2000 temporary seats.
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  23. ^ Perth Glory's score written first
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