Non-league Salisbury are swapping the National League South for the Gulf, as owner Ali Alhamad arranges a remarkable mid-season trip to Kuwait.
According to Sky Sports, the sixth-tier club, known as the Whites, will travel to face Al Arabi — 17-time Kuwaiti Premier League champions — in a 22,000-seater stadium on Wednesday, September 30, a scale of venue Salisbury's part-time players are unlikely to have ever experienced.
Alhamad, who owns the club, believes the trip will be an eye-opening experience for his squad, telling Sky Sports: "I think they will be shocked that they will be stars." The comment reflects the unusual nature of the fixture, with a small English non-league outfit set to be treated as a major attraction in Kuwait rather than a routine midweek opponent.
The report frames the trip as a "once in a lifetime" adventure for a club used to far more modest surroundings, offering players and staff a rare taste of top-level facilities and attention abroad during what would otherwise be a normal domestic season.