With a background spanning manufacturing, property and blockchain, Ali Alhamad is building a football business that connects English community clubs with his home country.
When Salisbury FC travelled to Kuwait to face Al-Qadsia on 30 September, the visit brought the work of its Kuwaiti owner, Ali Alhamad, into view for a new audience. Behind the friendly was a businessman whose involvement in English football now extends to two clubs, a long-term stadium lease and plans for youth development across both countries.
Alhamad took over Salisbury in 2025 through Proleague Ltd. In August 2026, the same company completed the acquisition of Andover Town, adding another local club to a project centred on developing players and strengthening the institutions around them.
For Kuwaiti readers, his story offers a view of football ownership away from the Premier League. It begins with a career across several industries and leads to the practical work of running clubs with their own supporters, histories and responsibilities.
A business background beyond football
Alhamad was introduced to Salisbury supporters as an entrepreneur and technologist with experience in manufacturing, real estate, blockchain and cryptocurrency. That description appeared in the investor profile published by Blackbridge Sports, the adviser that helped arrange his acquisition of the club.
His educational background also reflects that interest in technology. His public LinkedIn profile lists the University of Utah for 1999 to 2003 and the Oxford Blockchain Strategy Programme at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, completed in May 2018. It also lists blockchain and bitcoin certifications from 2017.
These details place his interest in digital business several years before the Salisbury investment. In December 2021, he published an article on blockchain games, another indication that the subject formed part of his professional interests before football ownership became his most visible public role.
Proleague provides a more concrete picture of his current business activity. Companies House records show that the UK company was incorporated on 24 April 2025 and classifies its activity as that of a head office. Alhamad is its listed director. Salisbury identifies Proleague as its ownership group, and the company subsequently became the vehicle for the Andover acquisition.
How Salisbury became the starting point
The route into Salisbury began through Blackbridge founder Alexander Jarvis, who introduced Alhamad to the club’s board. The existing directors had concluded that sustaining football at National League South level required investment beyond the resources they could continue to provide.
According to Salisbury Radio’s reporting on the takeover, discussions continued over several months before a board meeting on 17 June 2025 confirmed the agreement. The announcement followed that weekend, with regulatory approval still part of the process at that stage.
Alhamad was entering a club rebuilt through local effort. The present Salisbury FC was formed in December 2014 after the collapse of its predecessor. Supporters and volunteers helped bring the Raymond McEnhill Stadium back into use, and the new club began competitive football the following year.
That history gives context to his emphasis on community and continuity. At the time of the takeover, he set out an intention to invest in young players and strengthen the club’s local relationships. Around 200 people attended a supporters’ forum where he joined the existing leadership and manager Brian Dutton to answer questions about the next stage.
Proleague grows into a two-club project
The next major step came in August 2026, when Salisbury announced that Proleague had completed its acquisition of Andover Town and secured a 25-year lease on Portway Stadium from Test Valley Borough Council.
The agreement preserves Andover’s name, identity and home ground. Mohammad Alkandari was named as the club’s chief executive, responsible for its day-to-day operation. For Alhamad, the transaction extended his football interests while creating a closer relationship between two clubs in neighbouring counties.
The announced sporting plan is specific: Salisbury’s academy players would have opportunities to gain senior experience at Andover, while the clubs would share coaching and scouting resources. Proposed improvements at Portway include exploring an all-weather pitch, with potential use for first-team training and community football during the week.
Those facilities remain plans rather than completed developments. The acquisition and long lease, however, establish the framework for a project involving player progression, ground investment and two distinct local supporter bases.
Connecting Kuwait with the club’s local roots
Alhamad’s Kuwait initiative adds an international dimension. Speaking to Sky Sports before the September visit, he described youth subscriptions abroad and a broader audience as part of his approach to financial sustainability. The trip followed trials offering selected Kuwaiti players an opportunity to train with Salisbury in England.
Following the visit, Kuwait Times reported that the club was preparing a Kuwait academy based on its English youth programme. Alhamad described youth development as the central priority, while the report also documented exchanges involving Kuwaiti coaches and young players. The academy remains a stated development project, rather than evidence of an established route into professional contracts.
His community commitments in England have a measurable example. Under a partnership with homelessness charity ALABARÉ, revenue from Salisbury’s stadium bar supports services focused on recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. The charity reported receiving more than £10,000 by the halfway point of the 2025/26 season and hosted Alhamad at its Salisbury drop-in service.
Together, these developments give substance to the public profile of Salisbury’s owner: a businessman with an interest in technology, a company expanding its football holdings, and commitments in both Kuwait and southern England. The next chapter will take place at Portway, in Salisbury’s youth system and in the proposed Kuwait academy, where his ownership plans move into day-to-day football work.
