The WA football community was out in force as Perth Glory made a perfect start to life at nib Stadium this season in glorious sunshine on Sunday.
The WA football community was out in force as Perth Glory made a perfect start to life at nib Stadium this season in glorious sunshine on Sunday.
As part of a joint initiative between Glory and Football West, around 70 Junior League clubs took advantage of the Hyundai A-League club-s free ticket offer for Glory-s first home game of the season.
Glory donated 5000 tickets, which Football West distributed through a scheme similar to that used for the final game of last year when almost 10,000 junior players, officials and friends filled the new eastern stand during the club-s draw with Adelaide United in front of 16,707.
This time, Glory-s 1-0 win over Melbourne Heart was watched by 13,856 fans, who were on their feet in the 50th minute when Jamie Maclaren struck the winning goal.
Football West chief executive Peter Hugg was delighted with the response of junior clubs.
“The redeveloped nib Stadium is a fantastic setting for football and it-s always great to see so many members of the local football fraternity out in force to support Perth Glory,” Hugg said.
“The ticket initiative was a huge success last season and we were delighted that Glory CEO Jason Brewer made tickets available to our members for the Heart match.
“The game in WA can only benefit from the growing relationship between Football West and Glory and I urge all football fans to continue to show their support for the State-s Hyundai A-League club.”
Brewer said Glory would continue to engage the local football community and the wider sporting public off the field as coach Alistair Edwards sought A-League success on the pitch.
“Our team and the fans go hand in glove and there is no doubt that strong support on match day – as we had against Melbourne Heart – gives the boys a real lift,” Brewer said. “It was great to work with Football West on this particular initiative and I-m looking forward to continuing to strengthen our relationship with the local game in future.
“We also hope the fans who benefited from the ticket giveaway enjoyed the experience and that we-ll see them back at nib Stadium very soon.”
Glory are in action at nib Stadium again on Saturday at 2.30pm when Alessandro Del Piero-s Sydney FC are in town. Tickets are available here.
Junior silver memberships are available at just $99. Click here for more details.
