# 1996–97 Perth Glory SC season

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

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.

## 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.

### 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.

### 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.

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

## Transfers
### Transfers in

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

### Transfers out

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

## Match results
### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Preseason matches

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

### League results

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

## Statistics
### Leading goalscorers

* 14 – Bobby Despotovski
* 12 – Vas Kalogeracos

## Player details

List of squad players, including number of appearances by competition
| Pos | Name | Appearances | Goals |
| GK | Vince Matassa | 11 | 0 |
| GK | Tom Maras | 8 | 0 |
| GK | Robert Zabica | 7 | 0 |
| DF | Gavin Wilkinson | 24 | 3 |
| | Vladimir Beretovac | 13 | 0 |
| | Vinko Buljubasic | 25 | 0 |
| | Tony Carbone | 8 | 1 |
| | Doug Ithier | 12 | 0 |
| | Paul McVittie | 25 | 2 |
| | Scott Miller | 26 | 2 |
| MF | Gareth Naven | 25 | 1 |
| | Craig Naven | 25 | 0 |
| | Paul Strudwick | 23 | 7 |
| | Peter Vukrimovic | 6 | 2 |
| | Dale Wingell | 25 | 2 |
| | Marc Wingell | 2 | 0 |
| FW | Alan MacKenzie | 12 | 2 |
| FW | Vasilios Kalogeracos | 20 | 12 |
| FW | Bobby Despotovski | 23 | 14 |
Statistics accurate to end of 1996–97 NSL season