Perth Glory confirm Anthony Radich as incoming CEO

Anthony Radich

Perth Glory has announced the arrival of Anthony Radich as the club’s new Chief Executive Officer.

A West Australian native, Radich has over 25 years’ experience in senior executive marketing, commercial and administrative roles and a long-time affiliation with Glory.

A former club volunteer and long-time member, he went on to serve as Glory’s Head of Commercial, General Manager and Chief Operations Officer and also negotiated and managed sponsorships with the club when working with both Quick Service Restaurant Holdings (Chicken Treat) and Healthway (LiveLighter).

His most recent stint at Glory as Chief Operating Officer saw the club secure 10,000 members for the first time and be ranked first in the league for overall Membership satisfaction in independent research conducted by Gemba and commissioned by Football Australia.

During this time, the club was also ranked first for game day experience, Membership value, Membership renewal, communication to Members, sense of club involvement and club administration.

Most recently, he spent the last five years as GM Commercial of the Perth Wildcats, eclipsing all commercial records and taking that club to its highest peak commercially.

Anthony, who will look to transition into the role prior to outgoing CEO Tony Pignata’s official departure from the club on September 30, is relishing the prospect of driving the club forward at what is a pivotal time in its history.

“I am incredibly excited and very humbled to be given the opportunity to lead this great football club,” he said in a statement via Perth Glory.

“It is a club that I hold very close to my heart and have loved since day one of its existence and throughout my life.

“I want to sincerely thank [Glory Owner and Chairman] Tony and Lucy Sage for offering me this wonderful opportunity.

“It has been a very tumultuous last couple of seasons for the club, with both the Men’s and Women’s sides undoubtedly among the Australian professional teams most harshly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“My predecessor, Tony Pignata, deserves much credit for the way he helped the club meet the unprecedented challenges it faced during this time.

“As someone who loves the club and the sport, it hurt me deeply to see the toll that these challenges took on everyone associated with Glory and I am determined to ensure that I and my team can now make a significant difference commercially and operationally.

“I am certainly not ignorant of the enormity of the task and challenges that lie ahead of us all at the club.

“We need to rebuild its very foundations both on and off-field. That is the harsh reality of the situation we face, but it also presents a wonderful opportunity.

“It’s always darkest before the dawn and administratively we are faced with almost a start-from-scratch proposition.

“I also want us to be a more accessible, communicative, open and transparent club, to better engage with our Members, corporate partners and the WA football community and to listen to their feedback and concerns in order for us to better understand and learn from what has transpired over the last two seasons.

“They all deserve to feel pride in their club, feel a sense of ownership of it and their engagements with it need to be enjoyable and rewarding ones.

“The onus is very much on us to earn their trust and improve their experience through our actions and delivering on our commitments.”

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New board appointments and regulatory reform announced by APL

The Australian Professional Leagues (APL) have announced the appointment of two new Club Directors to the APL Board, as well as updates to the salary cap structure which will be implemented from the 2025/26 season.

At an Extraordinary General Meeting held earlier today, Club Unitholders voted to appoint John Dovaston, Chairman of Melbourne Victory, and Kaz Patafta, Chairman and CEO of Brisbane Roar, as new Club Directors to the APL Board.

Both bring a strong mix of football, business, and governance experience to the table, drawn from their work both within and outside the sport.

The rest of the Board — including the Chair, a Silver Lake Director, the FA-appointed Director, and three existing Club Directors — remains unchanged, as they were not up for election.

After consulting with the Board, Club Unitholders, and club reps, the APL also announced it will introduce a new financial sustainability framework for the A-Leagues, to be rolled out over the next three seasons.

The focus will be on revamping the salary cap system.

The current setup which includes a $2.55 million soft cap and six types of salary exemptions was originally designed to support financial stability and competitive balance, but it’s no longer delivering as intended.

Starting from the 2025/26 Isuzu UTE A-League Men season, a $3.5 million hard cap trial will be introduced.

Then, in 2026/27, a $3 million hard cap (plus one marquee player) will be enforced. Clubs that exceed the cap will face financial and sporting penalties.

For the 2025/26 season, clubs will still operate under the current salary cap rules and exemptions, with the trial period acting as a transition to the new system.

A broader financial model, based on each club’s revenue will be finalised with input from clubs and the PFA and introduced in the 2027/28 season.

Executive Chair, Stephen Conroy, highlighted the need for change when it came to the current salary cap structure as well as the benefit of the new reform.

“Following consultation with clubs over the last twelve months, it was determined that the current spending structure, which has been in place since 2005, was no longer fit for purpose,” he said in a press release.

“We are doubling down on strategies that are already working; investing in our product and highlighting our fantastic homegrown talent. 

“The implementation of these reforms over the coming years is designed to ensure a competitive balance and to build long term foundations for growth that helps unlock the full revenue potential of each club.

“The APL Board firmly believe this is the model for long term success, giving clubs time to assess and plan before a new model is agreed to for season 2027/28 based on global best practice, that can deliver greater outcomes for talent development and a better football product.ˮ

The APL’s latest moves mark a significant step forward for the future of the A-Leagues, with new leadership on the Board and a clear plan to overhaul the financial structure of the competition, the league is positioning itself for long-term stability and growth. 

A-League records strong viewership and attendance in New-Zealand

In recent news the A-league viewership on sky sports has climbed significantly in New Zealand.

Official A-League media sources have identified that 1.31 million people have watched the A-League through Sky Sports media channels this season.

This confirms an impressive 40% increase in viewership for the 2024-25 season.

To add to this an additional 228k, a 46% increase, and 167k, a prominent 115% increase, have also streamed on Sky’s digital platforms.

This amounts to a huge increase in viewership of the sport for New Zealand and also a large portion of the respective nation’s population, displaying football’s huge popularity in Australia’s close neighbour.

Sky Sports extended their exclusive rights for the Isuzu UTE A-League Men and Ninja A-League Women at the beginning of this season and this deal will be the sole provider for 2 more seasons.

Both Leagues through this season are available not only on Sky Sports but also Sky Sport Now and Sky Go.

This upward trend in popularity can be attributed to the addition of a second New-Zealand team in Auckland FC, who currently sit at the top of the A-League and look positioned to win the minor premiership.

To match this news with viewership Auckland FC and Wellington Phoenix have both recorded some of the highest game attendance in the league throughout most of their home games.

Auckland FC has had the overall highest attendance with a total of 211,095 so far and an average of 17,591. With the biggest attendance their derby against Wellington Phoenix at just above 27,000.

Auckland FC worst attendance at around 13,000 is almost double the next most attended team, Sydney FC. Wellington Phoenix have also recorded high attendance with 99,677 up to this point.

Though down averagely from last season, to maintain these numbers after a title chasing seasons shows fan dedication from the Kiwis.

The introduction of a new team from New Zealand’s biggest city has turned out to be a successful investment by the Australian Professional Leagues (APL).

It has increased viewership, attendance and all round enjoyment in the A-league, helping the APL increase in value and quality this season.

The APL and New Zealand must now build on this momentum to keep viewership strong and continue growing the beautiful game across Aotearoa.

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