As he prepares to celebrate another milestone on Saturday in the form of his 150th Hyundai A-League appearance, we thought a chat with Chris Harold was very much in order.
And as he has throughout his five years at the club, the gifted attacker provided a wealth of thoughtful and insightful comments on a wide range of topics.
So to avoid leaving anything out, we’ve opted to simply throw in a handful of loose headings and leave the rest to the man himself.
Change
Change is a natural thing that happens with time.
The league is still young and you want to see the league and individual teams grow in terms of the quality of the players they bring in and the level of the professionalism involved.
That includes stuff like facilities and backroom staff which make everything run much more smoothly and efficiently.
Glory has definitely done that in the time that I’ve been here and it’s good to see the club going in the right direction.
Hopefully that progression will continue in the future.
At a personal level, it is a little bit hard to remember playing at Gold Coast. [Chris spent his first two seasons with the now-defunct Queensland club].
During the period of life that I’ve been here at Glory, late teens into mid-20s, people tend to change a lot naturally. For me, that coincided with my move to Perth.
When I left Queensland and the Gold Coast, I was very different, much younger, less educated and a more stupid person!
So I’d like to think that I’ve developed a bit as a person in that time.
Longevity
It’s sad that more players don’t have longer spells at clubs in my opinion.
I think that’s partly due to clubs not really promoting that loyalty within the league and partly due to the players themselves.
Unfortunately, a lot of it stems from the way the league is structured.
It kind of promotes shorter-term contracts and that’s something our union, the PFA, is trying to change.
It would be nice to see longer contracts being handed out to younger local players especially, in a bid to get them to stay with their hometown club for a longer time.
You see it a lot more in Europe, players spending the majority of their careers at one club and growing an attachment with that club.
So it’s nice when there are players like myself who stay at a club for a long time.
A lot of the time that comes down to personality as well. Some people prefer change and use football to move around a little bit. They might get frustrated a bit quicker than I do and want to move on when things don’t go their way.
But I guess for me, with my life away from football as well, it’s suited me to stay in Perth for many reasons.
Uncertainty
The nature of being a modern-day footballer is that you’re always pretty much in a state of limbo.
I don’t know how players go through extended periods on one-year contracts. It must be so unnerving and unsettling and play on your mind a lot. That’s one aspect of being a professional footballer that people tend to overlook.
If you put anyone else in that predicament, no matter what line of work they might be in, I don’t think anyone would be totally comfortable with that level of uncertainty in their life.
Support
On a personal note, I’ve always been treated very well by the Glory members and fans.
I like to think they recognise that I’ve shown loyalty to the club and that there is a level of respect there.
They have always been very supportive of me and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.
I really appreciate that support.
#CREATEDESTINY
