Hope and trust are in short supply amid Brisbane and Perth’s A-League Men decline

Finally, after 329 days, Perth Glory have won an A-League Men game at home. At HBF Park on Saturday, a missile from 18-year-old Jaylan Pearman was enough to upset Auckland and gain some recompense for a devastating late defeat against Western United the week prior. The tidings, however, were not as good for fellow cellar-dwellers Brisbane Roar, as they added another chapter to a wretched campaign with a 1-0 defeat at injury-hit Melbourne City.

There aren’t many hard and fast rules in Australian football, but one that any team should follow is to avoid comparisons with the New Zealand Knights, who set multiple records for ineptitude across their ignominious two-year existence, or the 2018-19 Central Coast Mariners. But such is the state of Brisbane’s current season, the similarities are there. And Glory, up to now, have not been too far behind.

With just two points to their name, the Roar are tied with those Mariners for the worst start to an A-League campaign after 12 games and will claim the record for their own should they fail to get a point off Sydney next Saturday. Their 1-0 defeat to Newcastle last Tuesday made it eight-straight defeats at Lang Park, breaking the consecutive home losses record of the Knights and ensuring it will be 349 days, at least, between home wins. Glory, meanwhile, snapped a seven-game losing run at Perth Oval with their win over Auckland, meaning they’ve only been spared from the record books by the Roar’s ineptitude.

And there is a historical edge to all this – a contrast that helps contextualise the hole these two clubs have fallen in. It wasn’t all that long ago that Ange Postecoglou’s Roarcalona were fielding arguably the greatest side in league history, going a record 36 games undefeated and winning a record-setting 10-straight home games to help usher in an on-field renaissance for the league. Going back to 2003, meanwhile, a PFA report detailing plans for a league to replace the NSL described two-time champions Perth as “a living model” of what clubs needed to be in a new era.

There are still another five months remaining this season and, after Saturday night, Perth may even be eying the likes of Newcastle and Wellington above them on the ladder. But the pair’s seasons have become about avoiding more unwanted history and salvaging something for the future. Coaches Ruben Zadkovich and David Zdrilic effectively conceded as much in justifying their form, and jobs, in the context of this being the bottoming-out part of rebuilds. Both clubs also have relatively new administrations who have, so far, backed their leaders and also spruiked long-term repairs.

View image in fullscreen Adam Taggart applauds fans after Perth’s win over Auckland at HBF Park. Photograph: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Yet eventually, all supporters will grow weary and disdainful of talk. And with the fall from grace that both of these sides have experienced stretching across multiple administrations, Roar and Glory supporters have already heard the gospel of rebuild and long since tired of those preaching it. Hope, to say nothing of trust, is in short supply, meaning that not only are both coaches’ tenures being pushed closer to untenability with each loss, but the clubs’ relationship with their fans becomes more frayed.

Amidst this, while it may be tempting for those elsewhere to watch on with an almost morbid curiosity, the way that the sport has been structured in Australia means that Roar and Glory’s struggles can’t be seen in a vacuum. League administrators are not in a position to be making demands, and with the A-League operating without relegation, Australian football has effectively given these two sides a monopoly on professional football within their states regardless of performance; jurisdictions that, per Football Australia’s most recently published participation report, were the third and fourth largest in the country.

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Any period of extended dysfunctionality – Zadkovich spoke on Saturday of the urgent need for the Roar to address their academy and pathways – doesn’t just affect their senior sides but flows downward, creating barriers for young Queensland and West Australian players. It’s the same with facility access, stadia, and anything else that creates barriers, both in those states and around Australia. And while some talents such as Thomas Waddingham and Alessandro Circati will emerge regardless, it could mean the Socceroos never get the chance to find the next Matt McKay or Adam Taggart as a result. For as much as the A-League and its clubs can feel like they’re operating in a bubble, however much it may have tried to over the years, it’s all connected.

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