Salisbury FC are preparing for a one-off trip to Kuwait, where the National League South club will face Al Qadsia in a friendly at the 22,000-capacity Mohammed Al-Hamad Stadium.
The Whites will travel between Sunday September 27 and Thursday October 1, leaving Wiltshire for temperatures expected to reach the high 30s. The visit has been arranged by owner Ali Alhamad, who completed his takeover of Salisbury just over a year ago.
Al Qadsia are 17-time winners of the Kuwaiti Premier League and have Bader Al-Mutawa on their books. The forward is the joint-third most-capped international player of all time, behind only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
“Something different is our middle name,” Alhamad said. “I’m buzzing and I’ve been having sleepless nights just thinking about it!”
The trip follows a summer open-trials programme in Kuwait which attracted 450 players. Salisbury’s manager and coaching staff selected three prospects, who were given an all-expenses-paid trip to England to train with the first team for 10 days.
Alhamad said the trials demonstrated the appetite for English football in Kuwait, regardless of Salisbury’s non-League status.
“Being in non-league is irrelevant because the quality is high and people want a story they can relate to,” he said. “I felt the friendly would just elevate Salisbury’s name in Kuwait and help all the parties.”
The club’s players are expected to receive a high-profile welcome, with Alhamad anticipating supporters in Salisbury shirts at the airport. Restaurants have also offered to host the squad for free meals during their stay.
The itinerary includes visits to schools and universities, where the players will discuss professional football and the importance of taking the profession seriously. They will also tour the Scientific Centre, visit a local souq and attend a dinner at Al-Mubarakiya, Kuwait’s central market.
The club’s Salisbury academy will be officially opened during the visit, before the squad trains ahead of the match against Al Qadsia. They are due to fly home on Thursday morning and recover before returning to action against Dulwich Hamlet on Saturday.
Jaiden Bartholo will be the only Salisbury player not making the journey after being called up for international duty by Gibraltar.
Alhamad sees the academy and the club’s international profile as part of a wider plan to make Salisbury sustainable, rather than relying solely on conventional income such as sponsorship, admission prices and attendances.
“If we go through different avenues, building the name globally and having the subscriptions from youth players abroad and growing the players into players who can possibly play for the club in the future, this will be closer to being a sustainable model,” he said.
For Alhamad, however, the Kuwait trip is also intended to give the players and staff an experience that extends beyond football.
“We want them to grow with it and learn how important and how big the world is,” he said. “It’s a huge experience and I’m really excited to have them.”
