Searching for one word to describe Glory’s history in the Australia (formerly FFA) Cup is a tricky task, but chequered serves pretty well.
So as the countdown to Monday’s 2026 edition Round of 32 draw (live on YouTube at 5:30pm WST) continues, let’s roll back the years and explore Glory’s Cup back catalogue.
It all started so brightly for the men in purple in 2014.
Kenny Lowe’s side were dealt a tough draw for their first ever game in the competition in the form of an away trip to Newcastle Jets, but Andy Keogh marked his competitive debut for the club by scoring both goals as Glory eased home 2-0 at Magic Park.
Another away trip followed to Victorian outfit St Albans Lions and after a tense opening half-hour, Glory’s class told as this time Nebojsa Marinkovic was at the double in a 4-1 win.
The Quarter-Finals saw Glory host a Cup game for the first time and it proved to be a typically dramatic clash with A-League rivals Melbourne Victory.
Keogh again found the net twice, Marinkovic took his tally in the competition to three and Danny De Silva also got on the scoresheet as the visitors were eventually seen off in extra-time having lost both Adrian Leijer and Daniel Georgievski to red cards.
That win meant Glory would return to Victoria to take on Bentleigh Greens who had managed to reach the last four without facing A-League opposition.
The neutrals may have been hoping for a Cup-set, but Glory were having none of it as Marinkovic opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark and then doubled his side’s lead early in the second half before Chris Harold added a third late on.
And so to the inaugural Final and a match-up with Adelaide United which the powers that be predictably decreed would be best played in South Australia rather than Western Australia.
On a sunny afternoon at Coopers Stadium, more than 16,000 fans were on hand to see the Reds edge home 1-0 in a game of relatively few chances.
The sides were still locked at 0-0 when Josh Risdon received a second yellow card for a tug on Marcelo Carrusca and after Sergio Cirio converted a one-on-one chance nine minutes later, the visitors were unable to find a way back into the contest.
Defeat was painful, but it was nonetheless a hugely-encouraging opening first Cup campaign and Glory impressed again when the 2015 competition got underway.
For the second consecutive year, the Round of 32 saw the WA side drawn away at Newcastle Jets and this time they squeezed through on penalties after Sidnei Sciola and Cup goal specialist Marinkovic found the target in a 2-2 draw.
Extra-time was also required to see off the stubborn Queensland Lions in the Round of 16, Chris Harold scoring the only goal of the game after Lowe’s side had lost goalkeeper Jerrad Tyson to a red card.
And Glory continued to do it the hard way in the last eight, eventually prevailing in a penalty shootout at home against Western Sydney Wanderers after the two sides had remained locked at 1-1 at the end of 120 minutes.
As for the Semi-Final, Glory produced arguably their best performance of the competition in sweeping Melbourne City aside, efforts from Gyorgy Sandor and Chris Harold, plus an own-goal from Ben Garuccio, paving the way for a 3-1 win at HBF Park.
So back-to-back Final appearances were secured, but again the silverware proved elusive.
This time Melbourne Victory were the opponents for the big dance and once again, predictably, Perth was denied the opportunity to host the game.
Instead to AAMI Park we travelled where two quickfire first-half goals from future Glory man Oliver Bozanic and pantomime villain Besart Berisha put Victory firmly in control.
Diogo Ferreira did hit the post in the second half as Glory rallied, but the comeback never materialised and Lowe’s side were destined to be the bridesmaids once again.
At that stage, Glory had won more games in the competition than any other side in the country and yet somehow from that point on, the club’s Cup form went through the floor.
It was almost like those music fans who love an artist’s early material and then desert them as soon as they become successful, branding them as too commercial.
Because although it is painful to say, since those heady days of 2014 and 2015, Glory’s relationship with the Cup has turned more than a little sour.
Brisbane Roar were beaten away from home in the 2016 Round of 32, only for Sydney FC to prevail 2-0 after extra time in the Round of 16.
The following year saw Glory endure their first ever Cup-set courtesy of a brutal 1-0 defeat at Heidelberg United, Kenny Athiu scoring a worldy of a goal to send the NPL Victoria side through.
Even ahead of the Premiership-winning season of 2018/19, the club’s Cup interest began and ended in the Round of 32 as Melbourne Victory edged home at Dorrien Gardens and in the second year of Tony Popovic’s reign, it was Western Sydney Wanderers who eliminated Glory at the same stage.
COVID forced the cancellation of the competition in 2020 and when it resumed the following year, Glory were unable to navigate their way through the newly-introduced preliminary play-off.
The story was the same in 2022 and 2023 as the Jets and Macarthur FC proved too strong and although Glory successfully managed to negotiate the play-off in 2024, before winning a home thriller versus Melbourne City, the Round of 16 yielded another painful Cup-set in the form of a defeat against Moreton City Excelsior.
Throw in last year’s penalty shootout loss to Wellington Phoenix in monsoon conditions at Kingsway Reserve and it is fair to say that for Glory, the Cup has at times seemed more of a poisoned chalice.
But another way of looking at it is that Glory could now be due.
Who’s to say that a return to those early successes may not be on the cards this year?
Hope springs eternal and if you’re looking for historical omens, did Glory not lose two NSL Grand Finals before famously winning an inaugural Championship in 2003?
It is definitely time to rekindle the romance with the competition, so bring on Monday evening’s draw and hopefully this year, Glory’s Cup will runneth over.
#ONEGlory
