If you’ve overdone it on festive food this year, you may not wish to read on as this week’s Retro Corner features a hefty dose of heavy-duty stats which require some serious digesting.
And with that disclaimer out of the way, we can begin.
Having originally planned to take a look back solely at Glory’s results on New Year’s Eve, we eventually extended the search to include the club’s final Hyundai A-League game of each calendar year.
Fortunately, by doing that, we were able to paint a slightly more positive picture because it has to be said, finishing the year off in style has not been something Glory has done all that often since 2005.
Last year, of course, we were treated to a thumping 4-1 win over the Mariners in Gosford, a game made even more memorable by Tomislav Mrcela’s attempt to help the groundstaff disassemble the goals before the first half had even finished.
But that victory was Glory’s first in a final fixture of the calendar year since Adelaide were sent packing 4-2 on December 22 2010.
Overall, the 14 games played have yielded three wins, five defeats and six draws for the men in purple.
The Mariners have provided the opposition four times on New Year’s Eve itself, with all of those matches taking place in Gosford and prior to last season, the home side boasted a 100% record.
Room for a few more stats?
Well in that case, Glory’s last three final games of the calendar year have produced an aggregate total of 17 goals (7 scored, 10 conceded) and only once since the advent of the Hyundai A-League has there been a 0-0 draw (in 2006 at home to Adelaide).
It should also be pointed out that only four of the 14 games have been played here in the West and just one of those was lost (against Queensland Roar in 2007).
So there you have it; plenty to mull over instead of trying to work out what the lyrics to Auld Lang Syne are really all about and why you have to link hands in that awkward way that inevitably leads to carnage on the dancefloor.
As always, we’d love to get your memories of any of Glory’s end-of-year games, so please join the conversation via Facebook HERE or Twitter HERE.
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