Perth Glory on cusp of club record under mastermind Popovic

Perth Glory will be top of the table, unbeaten in 12 games and targeting history when they arrive at Coopers Stadium on Friday night.

The league leaders need just one victory from their remaining six fixtures to set a new club record for wins in a single Hyundai A-League regular season.

CLOSE SHAVE: Kilkenny sports new look for worthy cause
MATCH PREVIEW: Adelaide United aim to upset Perth Glory

New telstra banner

Tony Popovic's men – beaten just once this term – have already recorded 14 wins, equalling the previous high mark set under Kenny Lowe in 2014/15.

That team's position was readjusted to seventh as a result of salary cap infringements and there is a keen sense of unfinished business in Western Australia as Glory close in on their first trophy of the Hyundai A-League era.

Yet as much as his diligent set of consistent performers seemed destined to finish top, Popovic is sure to demand the standard does not slip with other major milestones in sight.

WATCH FOR FREE: How to watch the Hyundai A-League LIVE and FREE

Popovic speaks after the draw with Melbourne City

Creating club history

Popovic's side will still have work to do to be definitively, statistically confirmed as the finest Perth outfit of the Hyundai A-League era even if they beat Adelaide United in Round 22.

Three points in South Australia would account for a 15th victory, one shy of Glory's greatest 'total season' tally in the current domestic competition.

That record belongs to the Ian Ferguson-coached outfit of 2011/12 which went all the way to the Grand Final.

Three Finals Series triumphs – over Melbourne Heart, Wellington Phoenix and Central Coast Mariners – boosted that team's tally to 16 wins.

Setting new standards on all in-house measures almost appears a fait accompli for Popovic's players, who presently sit just two short of the club's best Hyundai A-League points return of 50.

Chasing the greats

Perth must be nigh on perfect from here through to Round 27 if they're to cement their legacy among the most dominant forces the competitions has ever seen.

Sydney FC hold the record for number of wins secured in a home and away campaign – notching 20 in consecutive seasons under Graham Arnold – and that figure is not yet beyond Glory.

Six successive wins would lift them onto equal status and emulate the 66 points the Sky Blues banked in 2016/17, during which they added two Finals Series wins.

Brisbane Roar are the only other club to have managed 20 victories throughout a full campaign, having reached the milestone in the post-season after notching 18 home and away wins in 2010/11.

Can Perth join those two juggernauts in the exclusive 20-win club?

Finding top gear in Adelaide on Friday night could prove the key.

New free to air banner

Visit page
This article was originally published on the Hyundai A-League website.
Close