[5] Founded in 1995, Perth Glory is one of three A-League clubs to survive from the now-defunct National Soccer League (NSL), playing their debut match in this competition in October 1996 for the 1996–97 season.

[8][9][2] From a relatively unheralded start, the club would develop beyond all expectations and help commercially re-establish soccer in the mainstream sports consciousness in a State where the AFL competition playing Australian Rules Football is given media dominance.

[10] In the Glory's inaugural season, players such as NSL-title-winning sweeper Vinko Buljubašić, Perth-based striker Bobby Despotovski and young local star Vas Kalogeracos were brought into the team and achieved cult status.

[21] With new signings John Markovski and Con Boutsianis fitting straight into the side, local player Jamie Harnwell started to develop into a key defender and made the step to replace the injured Vinko Buljubašić.

[22] Unfortunately, a horror form slump at the height of summer denied the Glory a top-two place but massive crowds still attended their two home finals at the WACA Ground against Adelaide City and Marconi Stallions.

[25] Stange had also been told midway through the season that his contract would not be renewed—but well-organised supporter protest and media pressure forced Tana to change his mind and publicly announce the U-turn before a home match against the Canberra Cosmos.

[34] Despite signing high-profile recruits such as Damian Mori (who had formed a prolific partnership with Bobby Despotovski upfront) and Brad Maloney while also holding onto young star Ljubo Miličević the Glory had underachieved and Stange was sacked by Nick Tana.

[37] After scraping through in the second leg of the major semi-final against Newcastle, Glory faced Sydney Olympic in the grand final at a sold-out Subiaco Oval.

In the Grand Final Glory took the game to Olympic and following a headed goal from in the first half from Harnwell it was all over late in the match when Mori saw his shot dribble over the line in dramatic fashion.

In response to the plundering of their engine room d'Avray signed up Sydney Olympic title winners Tom Pondeljak, Wayne Srhoj and Jade North while also getting former Socceroo defender and West Australian Shaun Murphy back from the United Kingdom.

Mori wasted two sitters before young striker Nick Mrđa nailed a shot past Clint Bolton to claim the golden goal and win the match for Glory and their second NSL title.

Early results in friendlies against local opposition were not great, but Perth became the first team to defeat Sydney FC, winning 1–0 in the semi-final of the 2005 A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup before losing in the final 0–1 to the Central Coast Mariners.

[54] After the Round 20 match against Sydney FC, Alan Vest hinted that the current player group were incapable of achieving anything better and stated that "cliques" had been formed undermining club harmony.

[57] Unfortunately, star youth player Nick Ward did not honour his two-year contract and defied the advice of the FFA and left for Queens Park Rangers in England.

The Glory signed Anthony Danze, Billy Celeski, Dino Djulbic, AIS graduate Jimmy Downey, Naum Sekulovski, former Perth Soccer Club and Young Socceroos goalkeeper Tando Velaphi, Nikita Rukavytsya, Sydney FC player Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Milton Keynes Dons winger Nick Rizzo, Croatian striker Mate Dragičević, Hayden Foxe, Mitchell Prentice and striker James Robinson.

[61] In the 2007 A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup, the Glory surprised many by making it to their second final, despite not playing a single game in Western Australia, which they lost 1–2 against Adelaide United.

Further international players were added to the squad with Serbian striker Branko Jelić signed on a 3-year deal from Energie Cottbus[81] and Englishman Andy Todd joining from Derby County.

[82] Following up on an early season promise by Tony Sage to sign Socceroo players, Perth Glory had successfully secured the services of Jacob Burns.

[97] However, after apologising and dismissing his threats as an emotional outburst,[98] Glory went out to win 9 of their last 15 and finished third on the ladder, qualifying for the finals series for the second time in their A-League history.

Perth Glory also won the Grand Final re-match, One goal to Nil, in Round One of the season to hand "revenge"[108] to the Rado Vidošić led Brisbane Roar.

[123] The 2016–17 season started well with the signings of defender Rhys Williams from English club Middlesbrough and promising 19-year-old midfielder Brandon Wilson, as well as the resigning of reigning Johnny Warren Medalist Diego Castro.

They again faced Melbourne City in the elimination final, with the club shock winners 2–0 away from home to set up a semi-final with the newly crowned A-League Premiers Sydney FC.

[145] Perth also signed other players including Brisbane Roar pair Dane Ingham and Nicholas D'Agostino,[146] former Melbourne City defender Osama Malik,[147] Swiss international Gregory Wüthrich[148] and Socceroo James Meredith.

[155] A drop in form occurred before the season was temporarily suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak,[156][157] as well as a 0–1 loss in the Glory's debut in the AFC Champions League against FC Tokyo.

[177] In Zadkovich's first and only season as permanent head coach, the Glory continued its run of poor results and performances, leaving Perth at the bottom of the table at the start of the 2022 World Cup break.

[182] Former manager Kenny Lowe took charge of the club on an interim basis, overseeing the friendly against West Ham United and Australia Cup play-off against Macarthur in July 2023.

[184] The club was issued a breach notice & Sage was stripped of the license due to financial turmoil that included requiring loans from the central administration of the league to pay staff & player wages.

[196] On 23 October 2011, Perth Glory wore a predominantly blue jersey in recognition of the 125-year anniversary of their major sponsor, QBE Insurance, in a match against Wellington Phoenix.

This rivalry started forming when the two sides competed against each other in a vital league match to qualify for finals during Glory's inaugural season, which featured crowd violence and Perth player Paul Strudwick being sent off.

[184] On 17 October 2023, the APL confirmed that Australian property developer Robert Brij would be the new owner of the club, together with John Nekic (who is to be the incoming chairman), both of Primeland Group.