The 2000–2001 Perth Glory SC season was the club's fifth in the Australian National Soccer League (NSL). The club finished third on the table, losing in the elimination final to the Melbourne Knights. It was the final season in charge for head coach Bernd Stange who left the club in mid-2001.

Background The Glory entered the 2000–01 season having lost the 2000 NSL Grand Final on penalties. The "villain" of the day, James Afkos was released by the club, signed by Marconi-Fairfield. Afkos, son of minority owner and deputy chairman Paul Afkos, claimed that he had been released on board orders, rather than a coaching decision.

Season review Preseason The Glory opened their preseason campaign with matches in Adelaide against the Blue Eagles (1–1) and Adelaide Force (2–1). Perth Glory returned to Perth for two matches at the WACA Ground against the Slovakia team preparing for the 2000 Olympic football tournament. The Glory lost the two matches, 0–1 and 1–5. On 20 September, the Glory defeated Inglewood United 3–1. Perth Glory and Sydney Olympic played two matches in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The first match, in Newman ended in a scoreless draw, while the second, in Karratha was a 4–2 victory to the Glory. The final match of the preseason was a tightly contested 3–2 win over the Western Australia under-23 team.

Regular season The season was opened with a replay of the 1999–2000 NSL grand final against Wollongong Wolves with the teams locked at one goal apiece at full time at WIN Stadium.

The Glory began the season with a six-match unbeaten home streak, only dropping points in a 1–1 draw with Sydney Olympic in Round 4. The streak was broken with a defeat to Marconi in Round 11 when former Glory player James Afkos returned to score his first NSL goal.

Playing against the Brisbane Strikers in Round 13, the Glory set a club record high score in a 7–2 win with Damian Mori scoring four goals in the second half.

Finals series Perth Glory finished the regular season in third place, equal on points and goal difference with Wollongong Wolves. The Wolves took second place based on a greater number of goals scored. The Glory would have taken second place but for a decision by Soccer Australia to award the Wolves a 3–0 forfeit win over Eastern Pride after their withdrawal from the league. Had Soccer Australia followed their decision to award walkovers to opponents of Carlton after their withdrawal, Perth would have finished above the Wolves. As a result of finishing third, Perth missed out on a double chance in the finals.

In the first leg of the elimination final, Perth and Melbourne Knights drew 1–1 at Knights Stadium. The match was overshadowed by a number of incidents involving members of the crowd and the Perth Glory team and supporters. During the match, Serbian-raised Glory forward Bobby Despotovski reacted to comments from the crowd supporting the Croatian-majority Knights with a three-fingered salute, a symbol of Serbian Orthodox Christianity. Members of the crowd attacked a number of players including Despotovski, Craig Deans, Gareth Naven and Jason Petkovic as they left the stadium. Coach Bernd Stange and several supporters were also attacked. Knights management claimed that a group of skinheads associated with another, un-named, Melbourne-based Croatian team were responsible.

After a mid-week investigation, the Knights were cleared to play the second leg at Subiaco Oval in Perth. The Glory and Knights drew 2–2, with the Perth team being eliminated on the away goals rule.

Coaching Having survived an attempt by majority owner and chairman Nick Tana to replace him during the previous season, coach Bernd Stange took charge of the Glory for his last season.

In March 2001, the club placed a poll on their website asking fans to decide whether Stange should be retained beyond the current season. When the poll was removed, it was approximately 50–50 for and against keeping Stange as coach.

After the end of the 2000–01 season, Stange left the club after the completion of his contract. He was replaced by his deputy, Mich d'Avray.

Results Legend WinDrawLoss

Preseason Date Opponent H/A Score Ref 30 August 2000 Blue Eagles A 1–1 2 September 2000 Adelaide Force A 2–0 6 September 2000 Slovakia U-23 H 0–1 9 September 2000 Slovakia U-23 H 1–5 20 September 2000 Inglewood United A 3–1 30 September 2000 Sydney Olympic H 0–0 2 October 2000 Sydney Olympic H 4–2 7 October 2000 WA Under-23 H 3–2

League Round Date Opponent H/A Score Scorers Attendance Ref 1 14 October 2000 Wollongong Wolves A 1–1 Mori 5,443 2 21 October 2000 South Melbourne H 1–0 Despotovski 14,081 3 29 October 2000 Sydney United A 1–2 J Harnwell 5,483 4 4 November 2000 Sydney Olympic H 1–1 Despotovski 12,894 5 12 November 2000 Eastern Pride A 3–2 Mori, Pryce, Maloney 1,846 6 18 November 2000 Football Kingz H 5–1 Mori (3), Maloney (2) 11,909 7 24 November 2000 Northern Spirit A 0–2 5,764 8 2 December 2000 Adelaide Force H 2–0 J Carbone 10,912 9 10 December 2000 Newcastle United H 4–0 Edgar Júnior, J Harnwell, Despotovski (2) 11,873 10 – Carlton SC – 3–0 – All of Carlton's matches were awarded as 3–0 walkovers after they withdrew from the competition after Round 8, including matches that were already played. 11 23 December 2000 Marconi-Fairfield H 0–1 13,813 12 30 December 2000 Melbourne Knights A 1–1 Milicevic 4,871 13 6 January 2001 Brisbane Strikers H 7–2 Miller, G Faria, Despotovski, Mori (4) 11,942 14 12 January 2001 Parramatta Power A 3–2 Mori, Wehrman, Despotovski 5,071 15 20 January 2001 Canberra Cosmos H 3–0 Mori, Despotovski, G Faria 13,277 16 27 January 2001 Wollongong Wolves H 1–1 J Harnwell 16,019 17 4 February 2001 South Melbourne A 1–1 J Harnwell 12,917 18 10 February 2001 Sydney United H 5–1 Miller, Despotovski (2), G Naven, Mori 13,278 19 18 February 2001 Sydney Olympic A 3–3 A Edwards, Despotovski, Mori 8,669 20 24 February 2001 Eastern Pride H 2–1 Despotovski, J Carbone 11,732 21 2 March 2001 Football Kingz A 3–3 Eaddy (og), Despotovski, J Harnwell 4,554 22 10 March 2001 Northern Spirit H 4–1 Mori (2), Despotovski (2) 11,991 23 16 March 2001 Adelaide Force A 6–4 Kovacevic (og), A Edwards, Despotovski, S Miller, Mori, J Carbone (2) 4,030 24 23 March 2001 Newcastle United A 0–1 5,328 25 – Carlton SC – 3–0 – 26 7 April 2001 Marconi-Fairfield A 2–0 A Edwards, G Faria 3,348 27 14 April 2001 Melbourne Knights H 1–0 Despotovski 13,170 28 20 April 2001 Brisbane Strikers A 4–1 J Harnwell, Mori (3) 1,590 29 25 April 2001 Parramatta Power H 0–1 16,422 30 29 April 2001 Canberra Cosmos A 3–0 S Miller, Maloney, A Edwards 4,660

League standings

Finals series Round Date Opponent H/A Score Scorers Attendance Ref EF1 6 May 2001 Melbourne Knights A 0–0 5,380 EF2 12 May 2001 Melbourne Knights H 2–2 Deans, Maloney 31,710

Squad statistics No. Name LeagueFinalsTotal Ref Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals12 Peter Buljan 8 0 0 0 8 0 5 Vinko Buljubasic 3 0 0 0 3 0 19 John Carbone 20 3 0 0 20 3 24 Aaron Cole 1 0 0 0 1 0 23 Craig Deans 11 0 2 1 13 1 10 Bobby Despotovski 26 17 2 0 28 17 9 Alistair Edwards 17 4 2 0 19 4 17 Gary Faria 24 3 2 0 26 3 3 Jamie Harnwell 27 6 0 0 27 6 25 Todd Harnwell 1 0 1 0 2 0 15 Edgar Júnior 26 1 2 0 28 1 8 Brad Maloney 17 4 1 1 18 5 4 Ljubo Milicevic 19 1 2 0 21 1 7 Scott Miller 23 5 2 0 25 5 16 Damian Mori 26 18 2 0 28 18 26 Nik Mrdja 6 0 1 0 7 0 6 Gareth Naven 21 1 2 0 23 1 1 Jason Petkovic 28 0 2 0 30 0 18 Shane Pryce 19 1 0 0 19 1 21 PJ Roberts 8 0 0 0 8 0 2 Robert Trajkovski 14 0 0 0 14 0 14 Dion Valle 12 0 1 0 13 0 11 Kasey Wehrman 15 1 2 0 17 1 Statistics accurate as at the end of the 2000–01 NSL season.

Transfers In Player From Ref Damian Mori Adelaide Force Shane Pryce Newcastle Breakers PJ Roberts Canberra Cosmos Brad Maloney Marconi-Fairfield Anthony Danze Perth SC

Out Player To Ref James Afkos Marconi-Fairfield Troy Halpin Sydney Olympic Ivan Ergić Juventus Hamilton Thorp Parramatta Power Con Boutsianis South Melbourne Aurélio Schwertz

Notes

References