stint at Glory on loan from FC Dallas during the latter part of the 2008–09 A-League season. Further international players were added to the squad with Serbian striker Branko Jelić signed on a 3-year deal from Energie Cottbus and Englishman Andy Todd joining from Derby County. Following up on an early season promise by Tony Sage to sign Socceroo players, Perth Glory had successfully secured the services of Jacob Burns. In June 2009, in a bold move to attract attention for 2010 FIFA World Cup selection, Mile Sterjovski joined the club on a marquee contract, while Chris Coyne also announced his intentions by returning to his hometown club. Perth Glory's first match of the 2009–10 A-League season was played away at Hindmarsh Stadium against Adelaide United on 7 August 2009. This was the first season that Perth made the finals series in the A-League, finishing 5th on the ladder. The Glory were knocked out in the elimination final against Wellington Phoenix on penalties. At the beginning of the 2010–11 season, Perth signed ex-North Queensland Fury manager Ian Ferguson as the assistant coach, despite rumours circulating that Ferguson and new Glory signing Robbie Fowler had a bad working relationship whilst at North Queensland Fury. Glory signed veteran Jamie Harnwell to a new one-year deal for the 2010–11 season. The club also went on to sign Perth products Jamie Coyne and Todd Howarth to contract extensions, before signing left-back Josh Mitchell and striker Michael Baird, who had played together for Romanian club Universitatea Craiova. On 27 April 2010, it was announced that Fowler had agreed to become part of Glory's squad for the 2010–11 A-League season. Fowler reportedly rejected offers from Middle East clubs to stay in Australia after enjoying his time in the country. After an initial strong start to the season as equal-top after a 5-game undefeated streak, Glory lost four matches in a row, forcing David Mitchell to step down as coach, with assistant coach Ian Ferguson becoming his replacement on 12 October 2010. After the managerial change, Glory lost another 3 games, to make it 7 losses consecutively. Glory finished second last in the season, after losing their last 5 games. Perth Glory's 2011–12 season featured several high-profile signings with Ian Ferguson signing a large number of overseas and local players, including former Adelaide United player Travis Dodd, former Gold Coast United players Bas van den Brink and