The 1999–2000 Perth Glory SC season was the club's fourth in the Australian National Soccer League (NSL). The club won the NSL minor premiership as the leading team in the league. In the Grand Final, the Glory missed out on the NSL championship when they lost in a penalty shoot-out after surrendering a 3–0 half-time lead.

Background In 1998–99, Perth Glory finished third on the NSL table, being eliminated in the preliminary final by eventual losing grand-finalists Sydney United.

Perth Glory entered the 1999–2000 season as one of the favourites to win the championship, with SportsTAB offering odds of 4/1, placing them second to South Melbourne (7/2). Ray Gatt in The Australian predicted the Glory as champion, calling the signings of Kasey Wehrman, Peter Buljan and Hamilton Thorp "coups" while former Australia national soccer team coach Rale Rasic in Action Soccer tipped the Glory as runners-up.

Season review Coaching In February 2000, Glory chairman Nic Tana announced that coach Bernd Stange would be leaving the club at the end of the season. Despite club management and the board agreeing to a two-year contract extension, Tana as 75 percent club shareholder, had called a shareholder meeting and blocked the extension. The decision was unpopular with supporters with a protest occurring before the round 23 match against Canberra Cosmos. In late February, Tana reversed his decision and offered Stange a new one-year contract. In April, Stange finally agreed to the new deal.

Final series

As minor premiers, Perth Glory won the right to proceed to week two of the NSL finals. In the first leg of the major semi-final, they lost to Wollongong Wolves 1–0 at Brandon Park, the Wolves' home ground.

The second leg of the major semi-final was held at Subiaco Oval, rather than their regular venue Perth Oval, to accommodate an expected larger crowd. In the match, Perth Glory win 2–0 over the Wolves, 2–1 on aggregate, to qualify for the grand final. The crowd of 42,764 was an Australian record for a club soccer match. In the wake of the record crowd, the Western Australian government announced a purpose-built stadium for the Glory in central Perth.

The 2000 National Soccer League Grand Final was held at Subiaco on 11 June. The match was seemingly over at halftime, with Perth Glory leading 3–0, however the Wolves came back to draw the match in the 89th minute. The score remained 3–3 at the completion of extra time, with the match going to a penalty shootout to determine the champion. Wollongong won the shootout 7–6 with James Afkos, son of Glory co-owner Paul Afkos, missing a penalty. The crowd of 43,242 was a new record for an Australian club soccer match, standing until 2006. The match was also the first national league grand final to feature teams not aligned with a particular ethnic group.

Results Legend WinDrawLoss

League Round Date Opponents Venue Result Scorers Attendance RefRound 12 October 1999Gippsland FalconsA1–0Boutsianis2,155Round 210 October 1999Marconi-FairfieldH3–3Ergić, Despotovski, Boutsianis16,176Round 317 October 1999Melbourne KnightsA3–0 Magdić (og), Boutsianis, Despotovski 3,360Round 424 October 1999Adelaide ForceH0–013,390Round 529 October 1999Canberra CosmosA1–1Boutsianis3,760Round 67 November 1999Brisbane StrikersH1–2Despotovski14,077Round 712 November 1999Parramatta PowerA1–3A Edwards6,076Round 821 November 1999Melbourne KnightsH6–1Boutsianis, A Edwards (2), Ergić (2), S Miller11,027Round 928 November 1999CarltonH4–2Ergić (2), S Miller, A Edwards11,838Round 105 December 1999Sydney UnitedA1–0Despotovski4,480Round 1112 December 1999South MelbourneH3–1A Edwards, Despotovski, Boutsianis12,385Round 1217 December 1999Newcastle BreakersA2–3Despotovski, T Halpin4,127Round 1328 December 1999Marconi-FairfieldH1–0Boutsianis13,153Round 143 January 2000Sydney OlympicA1–1Boutsianis8,134Round 159 January 2000Gippsland FalconsH1–0Ergić12,199Round 1614 January 2000Northern SpiritA1–1Boutsianis11,128Round 1726 March 2000Football KingzH3–1G Naven, J Harnwell, Aurélio Schwertz9,784Round 1826 January 2000Football KingzA1–4T Halpin3,878Round 1930 January 2000Wollongong WolvesH2–1Buljan, A Edwards9,657Round 206 February 2000Marconi-FairfieldA1–1Ergić4,597Round 2113 February 2000Melbourne KnightsH2–2Boutsianis (2)11,270Round 2218 February 2000Adelaide ForceA2–1Boutsianis, A Edwards4,880Round 2327 February 2000Canberra CosmosH3–2A Edwards (2), Boutsianis13,158Round 244 March 2000Brisbane StrikersA3–1Trajkovski, A Edwards, Aurélio Schwertz2,307Round 2512 March 2000Parramatta PowerH2–1Aurélio Schwertz, Trajkovski11,737Round 2618 March 2000Melbourne KnightsA0–15,457Round 2724 March 2000CarltonA1–3Despotovski1,749Round 282 April 2000Sydney UnitedH2–0A Edwards, Ergić10,275Round 299 April 2000South MelbourneA2–1A Edwards (2)5,833Round 3016 April 2000Newcastle BreakersH1–2Aurélio Schwertz11,003Round 3121 April 2000Marconi-FairfieldA2–3Trajkovski, Milicevic5,721Round 3225 April 2000Sydney OlympicH1–0Ergić9,328Round 3330 April 2000Wollongong WolvesA1–0J Harnwell8,815Round 347 May 2000Northern SpiritH1–0J Harnwell13,554

Final series Round Date Opponents Venue Result Scorers Attendance RefMajor semi-final leg 121 May 2000Wollongong WolvesA0–18,326Major semi-final leg 227 May 2000Wollongong WolvesH2–0Trajkovski, Ergić42,7602000 NSL Grand Final11 June 2000Wollongong WolvesH3–3 (a.s.d.e.t.)6–7 (penalties)Despotovski, Milicevic, J Harnwell43,242

Squad statistics No. Pos. Name LeagueFinalsTotal Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals 1 GK Danny Milosevic 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 DF Robert Trajkovski 32 3 3 1 35 4 3 DF Jamie Harnwell 28 3 3 1 31 4 4 FW Aurelio Schwertz 15 4 3 0 18 4 5 DF Vinko Buljubasic 3 0 0 0 3 0 6 MF Gareth Naven 33 1 3 0 36 1 7 DF Scott Miller 32 2 3 0 35 2 8 MF Troy Halpin 21 2 3 0 24 2 9 FW Alistair Edwards 30 13 3 0 33 13 10 FW Bobby Despotovski 24 7 3 1 27 8 11 FW Kasey Wehrman 17 0 3 0 20 0 12 FW Peter Buljan 13 1 0 0 13 1 13 MF James Afkos 26 0 1 0 27 0 14 DF Dion Valle 20 0 1 0 21 0 15 MF Edgar Aldrighi Junior 32 0 3 0 35 0 16 MF Con Boutsianis 21 13 0 0 21 13 17 FW Vas Kalogeracos 2 0 0 0 2 0 18 FW Hamilton Thorp 17 0 0 0 17 0 19 MF John Carbone 22 0 0 0 22 0 20 GK Tony Franken 8 0 0 0 8 0 21 MF Ivan Ergić 30 9 2 1 32 10 22 DF Ljubo Milicevic 5 1 3 1 8 2 23 GK Jason Petkovic 26 0 3 0 29 0 24 DF Aaron Cole 0 0 0 0 0 0 25 MF Gary Faria 1 0 0 0 1 0 30 GK Tom Tomich 0 0 0 0 0 0 Statistics accurate as at the end of the 1999–2000 NSL season.

Transfers In Player To Ref Peter Buljan Canberra Cosmos Ivan Ergić Australian Institute of Sport Kasey Wehrman Brisbane Strikers Dion Valle Macarthur Rams Hamilton Thorp Adelaide Sharks Edgar Júnior Aurélio Schwertz Ljubo Milicevic Melbourne Knights Vyacheslav Melnikov Pahang FA

Out Player To Ref Danny Hay Leeds United Craig Deans Carlton Gavin Wilkinson Kings FC Paul Strudwick Retired John Markovski Carlton Vasco Trpcevski Newcastle Breakers Michael Garcia Released Gianfranco Circati Released Anthony Carbone Sorrento

References