New Perth Glory chief executive Anthony Radich says the club needs a rebuild from its foundations after being hit hard by the flow-on effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Glory were dealt a shock earlier this month when chief executive Tony Pignata announced he would be leaving the club on September 30 to return home to Victoria.
Radich was unveiled as Pignata's replacement on Monday, with his role to start immediately.
Glory are in rebuilding mode both on and off the field following several seasons in the doldrums.
Perth's A-League Men's team finished bottom last season, with coach Richard Garcia sacked in March.
Ruben Zadkovich has since been appointed coach on a permanent basis, and he has signed former Millwall and Bolton Wanderers defender Mark Beevers, attacking midfielder Ryan Williams, Irish midfielder Aaron McEneff, and fringe Socceroos midfielder Mustafa Amini.
Radich spent the past five years at NBL outfit Perth Wildcats, where he served as the commercial general manager.
Before that, he worked at Glory as the club's head of commercial and chief operations officer.
During his first stint at Glory, Radich helped the club secure 10,000 members for the first time.
Now, he's set himself the task of rebuilding Glory.
"It has been a very tumultuous last couple of seasons for the club, with both the men's and women's sides undoubtedly among the Australian professional teams most harshly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic," Radich said.
"As someone who loves the club and the sport, it hurt me deeply to see the toll that these challenges took on everyone associated with Glory and I am determined to ensure that I and my team can now make a significant difference commercially and operationally.
"I am certainly not ignorant of the enormity of the task and challenges that lie ahead of us all at the club.
"We need to rebuild its very foundations both on and off-field.
"It's always darkest before the dawn and administratively we are faced with almost a start-from-scratch proposition."
