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

As with each location game, the Salisbury FC players and coaching unit went to clasp the fans successful the Andrews Terrace astatine The Mac Stadium aft Saturday's 2-0 triumph against Folkestone Invicta.

Alongside the mean applause and cheers, they were greeted with a chant that isn't a regular from the songbook.

"Kuwait distant ole, ole," sang fans of the National League South outfit.

The players clapped backmost with an other buzz - wrong 24 hours they would beryllium travelling to the Middle East.

"Straight distant we each said, 'yeah, we're each in," explains Salisbury subordinate Luke Russe.

"It's a unsocial accidental and arsenic players, we are truthful thankful to everybody progressive successful making this travel happen. I've been progressive successful this level for a agelong clip present and I've ne'er had an acquisition similar it."

The five-day travel involves the nine facing 1 of Kuwait's astir palmy teams connected Wednesday, Al Qadsia, who person won much than 50 trophies, earlier returning connected Thursday to play Saturday's FA Cup 3rd qualifying circular against Dulwich Hamlet.

It comes arsenic portion of the club's continued nexus with Kuwait done their proprietor Ali Alhamad, who purchased the nine successful 2025.

The nine hopes the travel volition connection important commercialized maturation and, for the players, an accidental to acquisition shot successful a caller situation and culture.

The Mohammad Al-Hamad Stadium holds 22,000 spectators, much than 5 times that of Salisbury's The Mac.

"We'd emotion to triumph the game," says Russe. "But astatine the aforesaid clip I deliberation it's much astir the acquisition and astir the nine arsenic a whole, going implicit there, surviving that mode of beingness and experiencing the game.

"We've got a precise young group, truthful for them to acquisition that and benignant of acquisition cultures and differences is great.

"It'll beryllium a fantastic accidental for america players, for the staff, and I deliberation it'll bring the full nine adjacent person to what we are now."