Queensland health orders at the time meant anyone with Covid-19, or a close contact, had to isolate for 14 days – and for the Glory that meant two weeks of solitary hotel confinement for everyone. Teammate Pacifique Niyongabire had tested positive for Covid-19. ‘Stay in your room’ came the message from football manager Terry McFlynn. Jonathon Aspropotamitis, Glory’s centre back, is a well-spoken, intelligent guy.īut for a few moments on December 16 in a Brisbane hotel room, he wasn’t thinking straight.Īt 10am Aspropotamitis and roommate Aaron Calver were getting ready for training, in preparation for a game against Roar three days later, when their phones pinged. Perth Glory’s Brandon O'Neill shared an emotional reunion with his wife Nicole and daughter Scotti at Perth Domestic Airport last week. On Thursday WA finally unlocked its border and Glory could return home. Some players still in high school had to return home to Perth, while others used all the goodwill available from their bosses to take time off, or work from ‘home’ in their Sydney accommodation. The women’s team came over to the east coast in early January, and spent two months in Sydney following that McGowan backflip. Then the squad headed east again in mid-January, thinking the WA border would be open from February 5, only for Mark McGowan to change his mind. That mess was sorted with delicate diplomacy and a $150,000 charter flight. Christmas was going to be spent in hotel quarantine. Then a Covid-19 case in Brisbane changed all that. The men’s team originally left Perth for the east coast in late November, knowing they’d be away for a few weeks. This summer has been unforgettable for Perth Glory, both men and women.
Not when you’re trying to win games of football and you don’t know when you’re allowed to sleep in your own bed again. Cheerfully, you could call it an adventure.Ī total of 80 days locked out of home isn’t exactly a freewheeling trip in a combi with no plans.
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