Prior to the commencement of Perth Glory's inaugural NSL season the club board solemnly declared that to break even the team would have to attract a minimum average attendance of six thousand. A figure of 9639 for the opening match bade well, but the limelight was stolen by the 10,200 at Victoria Park to see Collywobbles make their debut. By the sixth round Glory's home gate had fallen to just 6299 for the match against the Gippsland Falcons. I personally thought that Glory would be lucky to keep the crowd figures that high for the rest of the season.

But by the end of the regular season Glory's home average was an NSL record at 11871. The home gate of 17582 for the visit of Marconi was the second highest ever short of the finals. The attendance for the South Melbourne match could have been higher still if the crowd hadn't been restricted to fifteen thousand for safety reasons.

So why the phenomenal crowds when all seemed to be going downhill?
I believe it is due to a combination of on-the-field success, the timing of certain fixtures, and the culture texture and atmosphere of the spectators on the terraces.

The turning point in the season was without doubt the victory over Adelaide City on 1st December 1996. The match celebrated the club's first anniversary and consequently a determined promotional drive attracted a large crowd of just under ten thousand. Glory played poorly but in the last ten minutes grabbed two dramatic goals to win the match. The crowd went absolutely berserk, spectators invaded the field (twice) and everyone left the match elated and hungry for more. Glory obliged by producing two more wins in front of growing crowds. Wollongong City were buried by three first half goals and no-one could forget Scotty Miller's amazing injury- time winner against Melbourne Knights. By the time Marconi arrived the whole city was abuzz with Glory fever,

After then the crowds tapered off but still remained significantly higher than any other NSL team. Even the shocking performances against Newcastle, Collywobbles and Brisbane didn't deter punters - they just kept on coming. The core of Glory's supporters can be divided into two groups. First are those who have always followed the local game, constituting the ethnic supporters, half the English expatriates and long suffering 'nth generation Aussie soccer fans. Second there are the recently arrived Poms and Scots who have heard of The Hill's reputation and have come along to enjoy the atmosphere of a game just like at "Home".

The result is a bizarre mixture of cultures. In the same section of the crowd one could spy the following shirts -Celtic and Rangers, Liverpool and Everton, Juventus and Milan and even Red Star Belgrade and Croatia. Just about every other shirt imaginable can be found - Ajax, Kaiserslautern, PSG, Porto, Northern Ireland, Spain, USA and (believe it or not) Sao Paolo and Colo Colo. Despite the apparent conflict of interests the crowd is as one. Every accent from Cockney to Chinese cheers the same goals, groans at the same near misses, jeers the same opponents and abuses the same referee.
Interestingly, not a few Aussie Rules supporters attend Glory matches. I've heard many comments from these people that the atmosphere generated by twelve thousand Glory fans at Perth Oval is hugely more than that what forty thousand manage at a West Coast Eagles match at Subiaco Oval. (On the subject of the Eagles, several of their players were regular supporters at glory matches, preferring to stand on The Hill.) Certainly the low- scoring nature of Soccer creates a much more intense atmosphere than score-a-minute sports like Aussie Rules and Basketball. Glory has converted many to the real football.

Each part of Perth Oval is a separate entity in itself. The Hill, one of the few licensed areas, is probably the noisiest section of any ground in Australia. To begin with The Hill sang old English tunes such as "Here we go", "We're gonna win the league" (which remained a favourite) and, if Glory were losing, "You'll never walk alone".

But over the course of the season new songs have been created, such as "We're the best fans in the land", "Wingle bells, Wingle Bells, Glory all the way" (in honour of Dale Wingell) and "Slobby Bobby, there's only one Slobby Bobby" (in honour of Bobby Despotovski). Each player has earned his own nickname, including "Chisel" (Paul McVittie), "The Shack" (Peter Vukmirovic) and "Ginger Balls" (Gavin Wilkinson). Unfortunately the "Boys From The Shed" have clashed with club management, in particular chairman Nick Tana, nicknamed "Mr Chiko Roll" for his favouring sponsor Chicken Treat at the expense of the fans. The main problem is what The Hill sees as unnecessary harrassment from ground security.
Certainly the local authorities are paranoid about English-style football hooliganism and have addressed this unlikely threat by erecting a high fence around the enclosure, installing several security cameras and employing gorillas in polo shirts to prowl around the crowd. Hopefully the club and supporters will settle this unnecessary conflict.

The rest of Perth Oval is comparatively civil. The long bank between The Hill and the Member's Bar is the domain of the families, many of them new to soccer. This is no area for a good yell or a stream of expletives at the referee- it tends to attract either amused, confused or disapproving glances. As for the pre-paid seating areas consisting of the main stand and the entire eastern side of the field, the noise is least of all. The chants from the unlicensed areas of the ground owe more to basketball than football - the most common song is "Glory!", clap clap clap.
Once I even heard "Ooh, bad ass" coming from one of these areas.

The most pleasing aspect of the Glory crowd is it's loyalty to the local team rather than the ethnically based sides of the Eastern States. For example, when Marconi visited Perth there wasn't a single voice cheering the team in white - all the Italians were supporting Glory. Even the notoriously nationalistic Croatians supported Glory against the Melbourne Knights and Steak and Kidney United - well, all except an incurable minority. I think this is due to the massive atmosphere of Perth Oval, which would sweep along the most disinterested supporter, and the natural parochialism of Western Australians when it comes to beating Eastern teams. Victorian sides are the favourite victims!

Of course the unexpected success of the team itself is a major contributing factor. A good home performance or an away win guarantees a high gate at the next home match. Unfortunately the big home support isn't enough to win every match - on the contrary, Glory have played abysmally in front of crowds as large as thirteen thousand. Sometimes, when the team is performing badly, the crowd can get intolerant and put pressure on their heroes, but most of the frustration is taken out on the officials. At the start of the season the crowd lifted Glory to great comebacks against Adelaide City and Gippsland Falcons, but the team's lack of response to our support in the second half of the Newcastle match changed the crowd's mentality a little. However, if the team scores early then the noise and intimidation make it impossible for opponents to recover.

Mention must be made of the excellent coverage of Glory in the local media. The team was virtually assured of this when the West Australian became a sponsor, but every other paper and the television stations also gave Glory significant exposure. Again this is a West Australian trait, as the state usually has only one team percode in national competitions and can afford to give them all a space in the nightly news. Channel 7 even broadcast a weekly half-hour program entirely devoted to Glory. Called "Glory Days" it was hosted by prominent local sports reporter Basil Zempilas, and included highlights of the weekend's match (always more comprehensive than what SBS supplied), interviews with Gary Marocchi, the players and club officials, stories on the supporters themselves and a "goal of the week" competition.

Can the old clubs of Sydney and Melbourne achieve the same off-field success as Glory? Perhaps not. Our local team has the advantage of starting from scratch as a multi- ethnic venture and had some luck with results and their timing. The club also owes an inestimable amount to The Hill, which has become the heartbeat of the side. Glory is a club that anyone, no matter what their background, can identify with and be proud of.

Hopefully the rest of the NSL will soon follow suit.