A-League football clubs these days comprise multiple teams and require multiple facilities. A club’s physical infrastructure influences everything from club culture to team performance and after 20 years of A-League football many of the clubs have been forward thinking in their infrastructure arrangements.
Where does your club rank in terms of its facilities, and where can it improve?
Let’s take a look at Perth Glory.
Current Set Up
Perth Glory currently play their ALM games out of Perth Oval, ALW games out of Macedonia Park (home of the Stirling Lions) and NPL games out of the Sam Kerr Football Centre. The club administration is based out of Fremantle Oval but its teams train across multiple venues throughout Perth. The Youth teams appear to be training at Christ Church Grammar School’s St John’s Wood Playing Fields (SJWPF).
History of Set Up
Home Ground Headaches
Perth Glory have played games at Perth Oval since their inception and the club’s early success helped paved the way for the ground’s 2003 redevelopment into a rectangular stadium. In 2010 the Western Force joined Perth as tenants and this was quickly followed by a redevelopment of Perth Oval in 2013 to its Southern Stands and Eastern Stands.
More recent renovations in 2023 forced the club to briefly relocated its ALM team to the Stirling Lions Venue which was received temporary upgrades to support the team. Following the COVID years, this effectively left Perth without home games in its spiritual home for nearly four years, contributing to its ownership collapse. Over the years Perth has struggled with stadium fees at Perth Oval and has threatened to find alternative venues. Reported alternatives included a move to a Hockey Stadium and even a brief proposal to build their own stadium.
Multiple boutique venues
The ALW and NPL teams have played at multiple venues across Perth on a temporary basis. The ALW team has played matches at Perth Oval, Ashfield Reserve and Dorrien Gardens, before their recent move to play matches at the Stirling Lions Venue. The NPL teams has recently secured home game privliages at the recently built home of FootballWest the Sam Kerr Football Centre.
No home base
In the past the club trained at the RugbyWA headquarter, but in 2021 RugbyWA refused to extend the club’s sublease. Training arrangements for the Youth have been arguably more dire, with the club even having to use diesel generators for lighting at SJWPF in the past.
Although press releases show the Glory are based out of Fremantle Oval, more recent reports suggest a more nomadic existence. The ALM side trains at Ken Allen Field but has moved some sessions to the Sam Kerr Football Centre. The ALW side trains out of Dalmatinac Park and the NPL teams have recently trained out of Lark Hill.
New ownership has also come with a commitment from Governments to assist Perth in this area, with locations slated in the City of Stirling. Training bases have been previously proposed in Inglewood in 2011, Joondlup in 2014, and Claremont in 2017, none have come to fruition.
Assessment of Set Up, Gaps and Opportunities
It is truly remarkable that Perth don’t have an appropriate facility. Not just because of their long history, but also for the fact WA only support 4 professional football clubs in total. Land availability in the city for these kind of projects is at face value, plentiful, and yet Perth have run on the smell of an oily rag and allowed themselves to be thrown around by schools, councils, VenuesWest, rugby union, state league football clubs and others. It’s really just a sad situation that must be rectified with new ownership. Perth requires at least four pitches to manage its teams in one administrative location, and ideally a show pitch to host ALW, NPL and Youth games. The club’s near death recently appears to have helped the community realise how important the club is, and recent relationships in Stirling have done wonders in improving community connection, but Perth needs to nurture this green shoots carefully to make sure it can finally establish strong roots in a place it can call its own.
Ratings based on future set up
Overall Ranking: 12th out of 12
Overall Rating: D-
It is theoretically possible for Perth Glory to use eight separate venues in a single week to administer their teams in Perth. This is simply unacceptable. It is hoped this will change with new ownership and finally some government support.
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