The Aussie with Italian roots has already successfully revived stricken Sicilian club Catania FC in his initial foray into football ownership, and is also close to adding a second European club to the Pelligra Group’s portfolio, whether the Perth bid is successful or not.
 
Confirming the validity of reports that he is among those interested in taking charge at Perth - placed into receivership after the exit of longtime benefactor Tony Sage - Pelligra plans to include Socceroos greats Vince Grella and Stan Lazaridis in his management team.
 
Grella is already the CEO and deputy chair at Catania, the one time Serie A club rescued from bankruptcy by Pelligra and immediately promoted back to Serie C in what is shaping as one of the fairytale stories of Italian football.
 
Pelligra, who last year came close to taking ownership at Adelaide United, has submitted his bid to receivers KordaMentha, with the WA state government said to be willing to chip in $7 million over four years to aid the buyer of the stricken outfit which just four years ago attracted a crowd of 57,000 to Optus Stadium for the A-League grand final.
 
“If we are able to acquire the licence we’ll do our very best to get the club back to that sort of level,” Pelligra told FTBL.
 
“We’re very serious about this and have put in a bid and we’ll see where it ends up, I guess.
 
“There is a big community of football people in Perth, I believe they’ll come out and support the club and there’s an opportunity there to unite the city around this club.
 
“I see how strong the football culture is in Perth and there’s a lot to build on if we’re chosen as the preferred bidder.”
 
Asked whether Perth-based Lazaridis would be part of his proposed back room staff, Pellligra replied: “When I do something like this I bring in people with high talent and an understanding of the game, and he has that. We’ve had a few chats but nothing is in concrete yet.
 
“My interest will be in protecting the club and the community and getting in the best people to assist me in making that happen.
 
“People have to believe in the project, like with Vince Grella at Catania. He’ll be part of things in Perth if it goes through and he’ll also be involved if our other bid for a second team in Europe is successful. We’re both passionate about football in Australia.”
 
Outside of football, Pelligra owns the Adelaide Giants baseball team, Adelaide Lightning women’s basketball team, and ice hockey teams in Adelaide and Canberra.