AC Milan in Perth: Italian giants on brink of locking in pre-season clash against Perth Glory this winter

AC Milan are set for a return to WA, with the Italian giants’ Perth-based fan club appearing to leak the confirmation of a friendly against Perth Glory later this year. The West Australian understands the European football superpower will square off against Glory in a pre-season game at HBF Park in winter and an official announcement is expected as early as next week. AC Milan’s Perth fan club took to social media on Tuesday to celebrate the 19-time Serie A champions and seven-time European Cup winners returning to WA, spruiking the fixture as being on July 31 at HBF Park. That date would round out the club’s pre-season tour of southeast Asia. They are already locked in to play Arsenal in Singapore on July 23 and Liverpool in Hong Kong on July 26. When contacted by The West Australian, a WA Government spokesperson said they were always on the lookout for major sporting and cultural events to support the local economy and jobs. “Western Australia has a proven track record of delivering world-class sporting events, including hosting Italian powerhouses AC Milan and AS Roma for the first time on Australian soil last year,” the spokesperson said. AC Milan were in Perth a year ago this month, playing AS Roma in a post-season friendly in front of 56,522 fans. It comes amid reports the Serie A was weighing up an offer to bring a competitive match, potentially involving AC Milan, to Perth in a world-first move. It comes after Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported Serie A chief executive Luigi de Siervo received an offer to play a competitive league game in Australia. Further reports said Perth would host the game off the back of an offer presented by WA’s State Government. The match — which would be the first played on foreign soil by any of Europe’s top leagues — could include one or both of Italian giants and inter-city rivals AC Milan and Inter Milan. The game has been slated for early next year, midway through the Serie A season. Milan and Inter both play games at the San Siro Stadium, which will be unavailable for most of January and early February as it prepares to host the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics. However, any proposal to play Serie A games in other countries would need to be approved by both the league and European governing body UEFA before it came to fruition.