Perth Glory have announced manager Kenny Lowe has signed a contract extension, tying the gaffer down for two more years until the 2018-19 campaign.
Lowe has been in charge of the Glory since 2013 and oversaw a period of turmoil including the salary cap scandal that saw the club disqualified from the finals in the 2014-15 season.
Since then, the Englishman has slowly turned Perth back into a competitive force, reaching last season’s elimination final with the help of marquee man Diego Castro, whom Lowe signed and has now re-signed.
Lowe said said he was keen to repay the faith the club showed in him.
“I am humbled, honoured and excited that Tony (Sage) and Peter (Filopoulos) have shown trust and faith in me to be here for two more seasons after the current campaign,” he said.
“I am looking forward to the challenge of developing a long-term strategy of continued growth throughout the club from grassroots all the way up to the first team.
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“I have always said from day one, that if we can look back and say we helped Glory become a club that people throughout Australia respected and a club that any player in the country would love to come and play for and that fans were proud of, we will have created a successful and vibrant club.”
CEO Filopoulos said it was crucial Lowe was re-signed in order to achieve goals set out by Glory’s four-year strategic plan.
“Kenny’s record at Perth Glory speaks for itself with an impressive win-draw-loss ratio during his tenure after taking over the reins in 2013-14 as interim coach and then officially from 2014-15,” Filopoulos said.
“He has played a pivotal role in developing talent in Western Australia through his previous roles with Football West and the NTC (National Training Centre), many of whom we see today playing for Perth Glory Football Club and several clubs across the Hyundai A-League and abroad.
“Kenny can take pride in the fact that during the upcoming season, 13 players in the senior squad are home grown and most of whom he has coached or mentored along the way.
“With a clear strategy in place for the club, it was critical we extended Kenny’s contract to provide the environment and opportunity to drive our strategic objectives between now and 2020.”
Perth have wasted little time in sending something of a statement of intent to the rest of the competition, signing Socceroos Chris Herd, Rhys Williams and Adam Taggart as well as retaining Castro and Richard Garcia.
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