Why Salisbury FC are 'bigger than many Premier League teams' in Kuwait

As with every home game, the Salisbury FC players and coaching staff went to embrace the fans in the Andrews Terrace at The Mac Stadium after Saturday's 2-0 win against Folkestone Invicta. Alongside the normal applause and cheers, they were greeted with a chant that isn't a regular from the songbook.

"Kuwait away ole, ole," sang fans of the National League South outfit. The players clapped back with an extra buzz - within 24 hours they would be travelling to the Middle East.

"Straight away we all said, 'yeah, we're all in," explains Salisbury player Luke Russe. "It's a unique opportunity and as players, we are so thankful to everybody involved in making this trip happen.

I've been involved in this level for a long time now and I've never had an experience like it." The five-day trip involves the club facing one of Kuwait's most successful teams on Wednesday, Al Qadsia, who have won more than 50 trophies, before returning on Thursday to play Saturday's FA Cup third qualifying round against Dulwich Hamlet. It comes as part of the club's continued link with Kuwait through their owner Ali Alhamad, who purchased the club in 2025.

The club hopes the trip will offer significant commercial growth and, for the players, an opportunity to experience football in a new environment and culture. The Mohammad Al-Hamad Stadium holds 22,000 spectators, more than five times that of Salisbury's The Mac.

"We'd love to win the game," says Russe. "But at the same time I think it's more about the experience and about the club as a whole, going over there, living that way of life and experiencing the game.

"We've got a very young group, so for them to experience that and kind of experience cultures and differences is great. "It'll be a fantastic opportunity for us players, for the staff, and I think it'll bring the whole club even closer to what we are now." The players will get to visit local restaurants, try local food and coffee, visit schools and universities, and hold a question and answer session for locals to understand how an English football club operates from the perspective of owner Alhamad.

"It will help the players themselves with opening up their horizons into different cultures, different countries, experiencing other footballing nations and other styles of football," he says. The country's interest in Salisbury is evident.