How can you put the past nine months in words that gives the players, the coaches, the club members and all the supporters the justice they deserve for what was an incredible record breaking season for our Men's Amateur squads. It started with the appointment of a fresh new coaching group with Nathan Thorp and Jake Ambrose taking charge of the Firsts along with Ryan Watret and Rob Caruso taking the reigns of the Reserves squad. From there with a lot of old faces and a handful of new guys brought in the hard work began, with an early pre season starting in January it set the tone for what would be the most successful season to date for our Men's Amateurs. All the gym workouts, to all the running and sprint sessions plus the numerous beach trainings there was only one goal in mind - promotion. The lads would not only go on to win promotion the second for the club in the past few years but also be crowned league champions with three weeks to spare. All while going unbeaten and being the only Men's team in the state to do so, boasting an impressive record (P: 22 W: 18 D: 4 L: 0). This would break a league record for the most points (58) since Division 3 was created back in 1998 and only the second team since 2006 to not face a defeat. This was truly a remarkable achievement and a dream start to Nathan and Jakes first season in charge. The lads finished the season with the best scoring record (74) and best defensive record (20) in their respective league, with only 20 goals conceded it was also the best defensive record across all 5 Amateur divisions from Premier to Div4 which goes to show the dominance they had throughout the whole season. History was also made when they won their third round Australia Cup tie 4-2 against Chipolopolo and would then go on to face NPL giants and eventual champions Cockburn City FC in the fourth round which was a day for the boys and all involved at Perth AFC to remember and will go down as one the most monumental occasions in the clubs short history. In the Amateur’s Cup it started out strong with a comfortable win against div 2 side Bassendean (3-0) thanks to a hat trick from Marko Matic. To the disappointment of the coaches and players there run was cut short after a poor first half when they were knocked out in the third round by a clinical Maccabi (Div 1) going down 4-2. The squad had up to 46 players signed on with 27 making an appearance in the first team it showed the depth and quality we had. It lead to the reserves having arguably their strongest squad and going on to make it a double, winning the league and making it the second time since Perth AFC joined the amateur league back in 2019 to win both firsts and reserves. Their league win was a lot closer with it being sealed on the last day of the season when Noranda forfeit handing the league to to the boys and sending the club into party mode. At Round 14 they were sitting 5pts off the pace but with the inclusion of some new signings in the second half of the season and some resilient performances saw them win 8 consecutive games and eventually be the last team standing. They would end the season with a record of (P-22 W-18 D-2 L-2) scoring an impressive 96 goals which would go on to be the most goals scored across all amateur divisions from Prem to Div 4 while only conceding 20 goals in the process. In the Reserves Cup it wasn’t to be and just like the firsts they went on to beat Bassendean (Div 2) after a Ryley Hughes winner in the 89th minute only to be knocked out by Maccabi (Div 1) in the third round with the same score line as the first team boys 4-2. Firsts Top 3 Goal Scorers Sandro - 14 Matic - 11 Cisco/ Andrija - 10 Firsts Top 3 Goal Assists Fielder - 18 Jak - 8 Sandro/ Andrija/ Cisco - 6 Reserves Top 3 Goal Scorers Bobby - 12 Kirby - 10 Sandro - 7 Reserves Top 3 Goal Assists Kev C - 7 Corie/ Cornell/ Oscar/ Brooksy - 5 Alaric / Sandro/Jakeb/ Becker/ Ric/ Rob - 3
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