When asked to sum up what Perth Glory means to him, Andy Keogh’s response is a simple one; it’s home.
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Already the club’s record A-League goalscorer with 59, the former Republic of Ireland international is poised to pass another milestone in Wednesday’s crunch clash with Brisbane Roar when, if selected, he will overtake Chris Harold as Glory’s all-time record A-League appearances holder.
And on the eve of his potential landmark 144th game in purple, he was quick to confirm the special place that the club holds in his heart.
“Perth Glory is home,” he said.
“I would never sign for another team in Australia.
“I was always going to play for Perth as long as I was living here and I stayed true to my word on that.
“I just want to play as many games as I can and contribute as much as I can and when milestones come along and people let me know, it’s always nice.
“Eventually you’ll look back on it and have a bit of pride in yourself in how you went about your business.”
This current campaign, Keogh’s sixth with the club, has thrown up plenty of challenges for him personally and the club in general, but he feels that the squad has battled its way through the adversity and emerged in fine shape.
“It has been an up and down season,” he said, “but a lot of great things have come from the group; emerging young players and a togetherness like we haven’t had before.
“Obviously our schedule has been difficult with the restrictions and the amount of quarantine that the boys have had to do, so it was always going to be tough… but we’ve come good towards the back end now and we’ve only lost one in ten.
“So as a team, we’ve really excelled recently and in these next two games, hopefully we can give it a right crack and go into the Finals on the back of some really good form.”
On the subject of Wednesday evening’s away clash with Roar, which Glory must win to retain a chance of featuring in the Finals, the 35-year-old is quietly confident that the visitors have what it takes to get the job done.
“It’s just the next game in the period of games that we have,” he said.
“We’ve approached every game with a great mentality, we’ve played some really good football and have been defensively solid.
“Without putting a title on it, it is a massive game and one that we’re going to be raring to go in.
“Brisbane are a good team who play good football and they’re going to be going for it just like us, so it should be a really good, entertaining game and a great advert for the league.”
Head Coach Richard Garcia, meanwhile, was quick to salute the contribution made to Glory by his former teammate when asked about his upcoming appearances milestone.
“Andy’s been a fantastic servant to the club and it’s a huge achievement,” he said.
“You don’t often find that loyalty in football and that’s something that is a testament to him as a guy and to the club as well in keeping a hold of a guy of his quality and calibre.
“We want to build around sustainability and people that actually want to be here for a long period of their lives and careers and Andy is a perfect example of that.”
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