The emergence of Perth Glory in the NSL in 1996 coincided with Filopoulos as general manager of South Melbourne where he gave Socceroos boss Ange Postecoglou his first coaching role.

After winning two NSL titles, Filopoulos left in 1999 to pursue opportunities in AFL and swimming administration. But, after almost 16 years away, he returned to his first passion – football.

Filopoulos came to Perth just after the club was engulfed by a salary cap scandal in 2015 and after guiding the club to safer waters the 49-year-old is bold about Glory's ambition.

“We want to win a championship both in the A-League and W-League,” he said speaking exclusively to FourFourTwo.

“The club is looking to average crowds of 12,500 and we are almost there. This season we are going to get to 10,000 members which will be a 60% increase from when I first started.

“We’ve had a 50% increase in corporate support. We’ve increased our revenue lines about $2 million since and we’ve reduced our loses since I’ve been here.

“Kenny Lowe is in his fourth season as coach and last season we were one week away from the grand final.

 “We’ve got an NPL junior academy from U-12s right up to senior and since I’ve been here we’ve taken our academy teams to four tournaments in Asia.

“We’re still chasing that elusive A-League trophy and making the Asian Champions League but we’re committed to that cause and we’re quite excited about what we’re trying to build here.”

During the off-season Glory lost a number of experienced players such as Richard Garcia Josh Risdon Dino Djulbic Nebojsa Marinkovic , Rhys Williams and captain Rostyn Griffiths.

However, Filopoulos believes the quality of Perth’s new recruits such as former La Liga star Xavi Torres will see the club compete amongst the A-League’s elite this season.

“There’s no doubt we can make top four,” he said.

“We’ve bolstered our midfield with Mitch Nicholls and Andre Guerao coming into the fold. Combined with our front third of Diego Castro,  Adam Taggart and Andy Keogh – who scored the second highest goals in the A League last year.

“We’ve replaced Josh Risdon with Scott Neville and we’ve also bolstered the defence with Jacob Poscoliero, who we’re excited to have at the club.

“Once you examine that starting 11 and the team around it you can start to see what we’re trying to build here.

"We’re focused on the balance of the team this year and also attracting the right types of characters that we need here at the club.”

With even more activity off the field in the works, Filopoulos believes that in five years Glory will be unrecognisable.

“We’ve moved into new and exciting headquarters here at Perry Lakes,” he said.

“We’re working with the government and playing a key role in lobbying for a new $30m state football centre and if we continue on this road map with the various phases Perth will be a completely different club.”