In 1994, an unusual chapter in Australian sporting history was written when football (soccer) teams from both Perth and Darwin entered the Singapore National League – known as the FAS Premier League.

At the time, it was near impossible for a team from Perth to gain entry into the National Soccer League, with high costs and logistics surrounding travel being the main reasons. With this being the case, a business consortium called Global Football Australia created the Perth Kangaroos and entered them into the Singapore competition – with a long-term aim of joining the Australian NSL.

On the field, the team was a tremendous success and easily won the league while remaining undefeated, with the Darwin Cubs finishing in second place. However, despite giving free tickets away to home games, the crowds did not come in the numbers the club owners would have hoped, and the venture ended up being a financial disaster.

The Perth Kangaroos were disbanded after one season and control of the club was handed over to the state’s governing body. However, all was not lost as the Kangaroos had laid the ground work for a Perth team to be admitted into the National Soccer League in 1996. From the ashes of this groundbreaking club rose the Perth Glory, who would find great success in the twilight years of the NSL before becoming a foundation club of the A-League.

There are some great articles about the Perth Kangaroos that go into a lot more detail about the history of this unique sporting team and its legacy.

Links are below…

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2014/mar/27/the-forgotten-story-of-perth-kangaroos

https://www.footballwa.net/perthkan.html

Photos are courtesy of The Guardian, alchetron.com and Football Australia.