The club was formed in 1996 when it joined the National Soccer League (NSL). They went on to become founder members of the A-League.

In 1995, another consortium led by Nick Tana bid for entry into the National Soccer League. Perth Glory were subsequently licensed for entry into the 1996/7 NSL season. From a relatively unheralded start, the club would develop beyond all expectations and establish the game in a state where Australian rules football dominated and Rugby league was about to fail.

Initially believed to be nothing more than a token participant, Perth surprised many by only just missing the cut for the finals; finishing 7th and 8th in 1996-97 and 1997-98 respectively and managed to attract a large and vocal support base.

In 1998-99 Glory participated in their first ever finals series after finishing 3rd but fell in the preliminary final against Sydney United. Glory then went even better in Season 1999-2000 winning the Championship at the end of the season but then after winning a nail-biting Semi-final against the Wollongong Wolves they then lost in the Final to the same team on penalties. 2000-01 season saw more consolidation with a 3rd place finish but a disappointing Final series.

In 2001/2, with a new manager, the team nearly went the entire season undefeated and ended up finishing 1st but then went on to lose to Sydney Olympic in the Grand Final. In 2002-03 with the NSL disintergrating around them, Glory and Olympic were the only two semi decent teams still left in the league to galvanise their midfield and fought it out for top spot all season with Glory eventually making amends for the season before and beating Olympic in the final.

In the final NSL season in 2003-04, Glory only had Parramatta Power as a huge threat, Parramatta beat the Glory at home 4-2 and then away 2-0 to host the final ever NSL Grand Final. Glory faced Parramatta at Parramatta Stadium in pouring rain This brought Parramatta down to the level of their opponents and scrapped for every ball in a match devoid of many chances before Glory won the match for Glory and their second NSL title.

Perth Glory's time in the A-Laegue has been anything but as successful as their NSL career with finsihes of 5th, 7th and 7th out of 8 in the first 3 season and are one of the few teams to have never made the Final Series. They have also been beset by Ownership changes after Nick Tana was relieved of the Franchise by the FFA and ownership was then passed on to new owners for Season 3 (2007-08). Crowds have also dwindled over the years from the heights of the late 90's to the current average crowd that is half of the glory years.