Perth Glory confirm Anthony Radich as incoming CEO

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Anthony Radich
Image provided by Perth Glory

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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Football Australia Expands Mental Skills Program for Match Officials Amid Sustained Focus on Referee Retention

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Image Credit: Football NSW

Football Australia has confirmed a second national webinar for match officials, led by sports psychologist Dr Liam Slack, extending a referee development series introduced after strong engagement with an initial session on managing match-day pressure.

The upcoming session, themed “parking with purpose,” will focus on decision-making strategies designed to help referees process on-field calls and reset attention quickly across a match that can present hundreds of individual decisions. Dr Slack, who also consults with The Football Association and the AFC Referee Academy and previously spent over a decade as a performance psychologist with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited in England, brings substantial elite-level experience to a program open to officials at every level, from grassroots to professional.

The theme builds on work Dr Slack has already delivered within Australian officiating. He recently led a session with Football Australia’s National Referee Academy on the same concept, framing the ability to consciously park a decision and refocus on the next phase of play as a trainable skill rather than an innate trait, one that separates officials who reset quickly under pressure from those who don’t. He has also addressed more than 100 Football Australia elite match officials and staff on developing a stronger match-day mentality, an indication of how embedded this psychological framework has become across the officiating pathway rather than remaining a one-off intervention.

The expansion of the webinar series reflects a broader shift in how football administrators are approaching referee attrition. Rather than treating retention purely as a recruitment or pay problem, the program signals an institutional acknowledgment that the psychological demands of officiating, particularly the compounding pressure of split-second decisions under public scrutiny, are a material factor in whether officials remain in the game.

It rests alongside other measures adopted across Australian football in recent years, including visible identification programs for junior referees and structural reviews of referee departments at state federation level, all aimed at the same underlying issue: a shrinking pool of match officials relative to demand.

Football Australia has not detailed metrics for assessing the program’s impact on referee numbers, though the recurring engagement of an internationally credentialed specialist across multiple tiers of the officiating pathway suggests sustained institutional investment in the approach.

Football Victoria elevates fan enjoyment with Streets partnership

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Image credit: Prostock-studio / Shutterstock.com

Football Victoria (FV) revealed last week a new partnership with ice cream giants, Streets. The brand will become an exclusive ice cream partner for the next three years.

 

An iconic brand for joyful experiences

As a well-known and popular ice cream brand with people all around the nation, Streets will now look to support the fan experience in Victoria through its products.

It reflects FV’s commitment to delivering a family-friendly and memorable experience for spectators. Both on and off the pitch, the organisation is striving to elevate the experience for fans and families alike.

“Football Victoria is always looking for ways to elevate the experience at The Home of The Matildas, and this partnership does exactly that,” explained FV Executive Manager of Commercial and Facilities, Chris Speldewinde.

“It’s a fantastic fit for our community and we’re looking forward to what the next three years will bring.”

Furthermore, Senior Brand Manager at Streets, Ryan Katz, emphasised the brand’s role in community sport and in creating memories beyond the action on the pitch.

“Streets is proud to join Football Victoria as its exclusive ice cream partner,” Katz said.

“There’s nothing better than enjoying a great game with a classic ice cream in-hand, and we’re excited to be part of those moments across the state.”

 

Understanding community football

Community football is all about these moments. Sunny days, the family together, and a sweet treat in-hand while supporting a local team alongside friends and neighbours.

This is why a partnership between FV and Streets is particularly important.

Not for its commercial value, but for what it tells us about both parties’ understanding of what matters to fans. From young fans to experienced matchday-goers, everyone wants to find enjoyment while watching the game.

And while the 90 minutes of action is the focus, the experience of a local matchday is truly defined by interactions with fellow supporters and smaller – but no less significant – moments of happiness during the day.

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