What it feels like to ... BE A KAZAKHSTANI FOOTBALL SUPERFAN

ISIMON HILDITCH, GLASGOW

t is quite unusual to be a fan of Kazakhstani football – but it has become a real passion. I’ve always loved football, especially football overseas. In 2002, when Kazakhstan changed from the Asian Football Confederation to UEFA, I became interested in their game.

When Stuart Duff, who had played for Dundee United and Aberdeen, signed for FC Kairat in 2012, my interest spiralled. I set up a Twitter account (@kazakh75) because I wanted people to know about Kazakhstani football and there was nothing out there in the English language and I started a blog.

It’s a real labour of love. I have a full-time job as a buyer for a shop fitting company, so any spare minute I have, I’ll write a story, usually in the evenings when my two-year old twins, Skye and Lyle, are down.

I was approached by a blogger, Kazybek Beken, who didn’t realise I was based in Scotland. When I mentioned where I lived, he said ‘this is big news’. I woke up one morning and saw the story - it was on the leading sports website in the country, Vesti, and on the news outlet, Tengrinews.

I’m not doing it for myself, the blog is to raise the profile of football in Kazakhstan and what it’s like as a place – it’s a proud and forward-moving country. There’s so much going on out there and, as well as awareness of the football, I want to open people’s minds to the real Kazakhstan. The largest city, Almaty, is stunning and very cosmopolitan.

I visited Kazakhstan for the first time at the end of September. My future brother-in-law, Kenny, came with me too. It was a special time for FC Kairat, they were celebrating their 60th anniversary and had tied up a match with their legends team and world stars like Paolo Maldini, Edgar Davids, Andriy Shevchenko, Luis Figo and Fabio Cannavaro.

We went to the match on the Friday, and on the Sunday, FC Kairat had an important game against Aktobe, who were the reigning champions. I wanted to experience a league match in Kazakhstan and it was fantastic, with a great atmosphere. The people made me feel so welcome.

We went into the bar at Kairat’s stadium and the fans were pleased to see people from afar being passionate about their club. The Kazakh people have similar attributes to the Scots – they’re extremely friendly and hospitable. We visited just after the [Scottish independence] referendum and everyone wanted to talk about it.

I plan to visit again in March and perhaps in the summer when Kairat play in the Europa League. The Football Federation of Kazakhstan is working extremely hard to develop the game. There’s a scheme where some of the best Kazakh players are sent to Brazil to train for three years. When they come home, they’re set up in a club in the first division.

Clubs are already progressing in Europe and I don’t think it will be long until we see a Kazakh team in the Champions League.

LINDA ROBERTSON https://kazakhfootball.wordpress.com