Former Socceroos midfielder Richard Garcia has edged out Hayden Foxe to become Perth Glory's next head coach.
Garcia has been signed on a two-year deal, with his support staff set to be announced at a later date.
The 39-year-old takes over from Tony Popovic, who departed earlier this month to take up the head coach role at Greek club Xanthi.
Foxe was an assistant under Popovic and was one of the early frontrunners to be named the next coach.
Garcia enjoyed an illustrious playing career during which he represented West Ham and Hull City in the English Premier League, featured for the Socceroos at the 2010 World Cup, and notched 105 A-League matches across stints with Melbourne Heart, Sydney FC, and Glory.
Since retiring in 2017, Garcia has worked as an assistant and head coach at the Perth Glory football academy.
The West Australian said he was proud to have the opportunity to coach his hometown club.
"Being a proud WA boy and having played for and captained Perth Glory, it's a great honour to now be in a position to take the club forward," Garcia said.
Glory owner Tony Sage felt Garcia was the man to lead the club to future success.
"Richard is an outstanding young West Australian coach who has a deep understanding of our football club and what it represents within the WA football community," Sage said.
"He served Perth Glory with distinction as a player and I know he will do likewise as head coach."
The future of captain Diego Castro remains up in the air.
The Spaniard's relation with the club soured when he decided against joining his teammates in the NSW hub to finish off the season.
Sage said Castro refused to take a pay cut when football director Jacob Burns and chief executive Tony Pignata presented him with the new contract.
Reports surfaced recently that Glory had even threatened Castro with deportation.
Pignata has denied those claims, saying he expects Castro to see out the final year of his deal.
Whether new recruits Andrew Nabbout and Nathaniel Atkinson actually join the club remains to be seen.
The duo are yet to arrive in Perth, and have reportedly not been paid despite their contracts officially starting earlier this month.
