Non-League and Academy football writer

Theo Jones is the chairman and founder of Kulture FC (he will also be playing for Kulture FC, this season). The club that were previously known as Kulture Klub FC, are a club who will be playing in the Essex Alliance Football League Senior Division (step 7), during the 2024/25 season. I recently spoke to Theo, about Kulture FC, ahead of the new season. Theo Jones is someone who has so much experience in football, and who has also played a lot higher up the leagues in the past. 

Could you talk me through a bit about your footballing journey?

Theo: So I started playing football as a youngster, and I first signed for Arsenal’s Academy when I was eight. I got released from there when I was 11, and I then signed for Spurs’ Academy set-up. I was at Spurs until I was 16, but I signed my YTS  at Norwich, and I was there for two and a half years, before then signing for Brighton. I was at Brighton for two years, until I was 21, before moving to Luton Town, who I got to play for in the Conference Premier, during the season that they won the league. However, I then went on loan to Hayes & Yeading United, when Phil Babb was the manager.

After my time at Hayes & Yeading, I spent some time with Enfield Town, before spending a season with Maldon & Tiptree. After my time with them, I joined Waltham Abbey, which was where I stayed for the majority of my time in non-League. That time was probably my most enjoyable in non-League football, and after leaving Waltham Abbey I went to Tilbury, who I was at for about half a season. However, after starting a family I stopped playing football, and so it was quite difficult to play football with my other commitments and work, as well.

I did get back into playing, and that was where Kulture came about. I didn’t want to really commit to playing semi-pro football, because you need to commit a lot of your time to semi-pro football. So in 2018 I started Kulture as a Sunday team, and we did three seasons in the Essex Corinthian League. But in the second year of the club, some of the lads suggested that we should play Saturday football. A lot of those players at the club at the time, had also played academy football or pro football in the past, and they were just trying to enjoy their football again. We as a club ended up going into the Hertford & District League, and we ended up winning that league, and then winning a Middlesex County Cup final against Springfield.

After that cup final we went into the Middlesex League, but about four of our players wanted to play higher up the leagues again, and so they would end up leaving the club. So in our first league in the Middlesex League, we should have actually won our division, and then in the following season I actually went to West Essex, to play for them. As my mate (George Karsa) had taken over as the manager, and he wanted to have some experienced players at the club, so he asked me if I’d join them. And I really enjoyed my time there, and I actually ended up becoming skipper, halfway through the season. From that I’ve just tried to build a partnership between Kulture and West Essex, who are a step 5 club.

I said to West Essex that we at Kulture want to progress and go higher up the leagues. We moved sideways from the Middlesex League to the Essex Alliance Football League, but we’ve gone up from step 8 to step 7, for this season. The people at the Essex Alliance Football League knew us from the Essex Corinthian League, and as they knew that we are a well run club with no previous discipline issues, they were able to push us up to step 7. So it’s been a good ride for Kulture, to go from step 13 to step 7 in three seasons. Now we’re looking forward to seeing how our next season in Saturday football goes. I’m actually going to be playing for Kulture this season, as I hope to be of some benefit to the club as a player this season, as we look to hopefully get promoted to step 6.

Our five year plan at Kulture is to get to the FA Vase, and we’re move than capable of achieving that goal. Obviously this season (2024/25) is about rebuilding and bringing in new players, and although for some people we’ll be seen as West Essex Reserves, they’ve actually already got their own reserve team. We’ve got a strong link with West Essex, and we’ve already sent about ten players their way during this pre-season, and we’re like a springboard for players to move up the leagues. We’ve signed some players this season who have just been released from category two academy sides, but we as a club just want to be a club that allows players to progress up the leagues, and be a springboard for those players.

Would you be able to talk me through how the idea of starting the club (Kulture FC) came about?  Also, how did you come about naming the club Kulture Klub?

Theo: So the club came from me just wanting to play football, and not having to give my undivided attention to semi-pro football. I can remember when I was playing for Brentwood against Southend, in a pre-season game. I got injured in that game, but I still wanted to be involved in football. I’ve got lots of friends who are very similar to me in the standard of football that they’ve played, and so that’s where the idea of Kulture really started. Regarding the name, I just looked at the team (it was named after the team, rather than a place) as it was just such a diverse team that we had/have. We had players from 14 different nationalities, and so all of the players had a different culture. Some players would pray before a game, some don’t, and there’s just so many different things about who people are, and that was how the name of the club came about. We’re a very diverse club.

Could you talk me through your role at Kulture?

Theo: To be fair I’ve always been focused on keeping the narrative of what and how we want to achieve things as a club. So I’m the person who really does that, but I’m also the middle person at the club, who tries to bring people together. With regard to day to day, it’s a lot of admin work that I do, like finding sponsors for example. Previously the club was forking out around £2,500 to £3000 a season, but going into our current league it has really doubled, as a bare minimum. So it’s about trying to find ways to run the club self sufficiently, and luckily the club has been self sufficient (I haven’t put any of my own money into the club since year one). One of my targets was for the club to be self sufficient, and for people to culturally know what we stand for, and to do things in the right way.

I’ve always wanted for the club to sustainable, because a lot of clubs are going under. So for the future as well, we’re trying to create more of a youth system at the club, which is one of our next goals.

Could you talk me through some of some of the standout memories of the club (Kulture FC) since the club was founded?

Theo: I would say that when we were playing Sunday football, those were probably the best memories, so far. They were really fun and interesting times, but also our victory in the Middlesex Cup was also a really big moment for the club. As is our recent partnership with West Essex.

Could you talk me through a bit about last season (2023/24) at step 8 of the Middlesex County Football League, for Kulture Klub?

Theo: From my perspective last season was a bit difficult for the lads, because we had three players who left the club, one to step 6 and two to step 5. We also didn’t really train during last season, which meant that the team never really improved during the season, and also geographically it was difficult for Ali (our manager last season), as he didn’t live near to where we play our home matches, in north London.

What are some of your thoughts ahead of the new 2024/25 Essex Alliance Football League Senior Division season?

Theo: It’s going to be really interesting because I have no idea what the level is going to be like. I don’t know much about the league or the teams who are in it. I do know that it will be a very well run league, but I’m interested to see what the quality of the league is like.

What are some of your hopes for Kulture FC, for the future?

Theo: Like I said before, the overall five year plan is to get to the FA Vase. We’ve got two seasons to reach that goal, and ideally we do it at the first attempt. Once we get there we want to work on sustainability and making sure that the club funds it. We’re trying to get our home ground up to scratch, so that we can play at step 7 and then step 6, which is the Henry Barrass Stadium, in Edmonton. We just need to get the lease for that ground, and then we can take things even further. With a lot of clubs who rely on someone funding them, once that person stops funding the club or decides not to be around anymore, then the club is going down at the same rate that it went up. The only clubs that survive and do really well to progress up the steps, are the clubs who run on a small budget, or who have a good youth set-up.