James Joseph and Phillip James were born 11 months apart in Middlesex, England to a Filipina mother and British father. A decade later they donned royal blue shirts, shorts, and white socks upon signing with English premier football club Chelsea on scholarship. Both played for Chelsea's youth and reserve teams.
The Filipino-British siblings eventually decided to move to Asia to pursue a career on the pitch. This formally kicked off in the Philippines when they joined the Azkals, the country's national team. Today, they are football's poster boys – their names being almost synonymous to the sport in the Philippines. This Wednesday, James and Phil Younghusband are front and center on TV5's Anggulo.
Whenever Philippine's Team Azkals would hit the field, James is a midfielder who would be responsible for the linking plays between the attackers and defenders. Phil on the otherhand is the striker whose job is to finish attacking plays by scoring a goal. It seems like they would play the same roles beyond football. Phil strikes the spotlight more often than his shy brother James. He joined a celebrity singing competition and has a celebrity steady date in the person of Angel Locsin. James on the otherhand would continue to link football and their fame. He says he wanted to use their popularity in order to promote football in the country and wants it to be a sports for the working class too and not just for the elite.
James and Phil lost their father to cancer eight years ago, and just four months ago their mother succumbed to a heart attack. Although this makes James, Phil and their nine year-old sister Keri orphans. 25 year old James and 24 year old Phil are supporting their family quite well: they have put up The Younghusband Football Academy (TYFA), a football tutorial they bring all over the country. They would also constantly strike a pose in front of the camera as models and endorsers of different products, and would have a regular TV show as football ambassadors.
On January 11, 2011, TV5's Anggulo tackles the days in the lives of football celebrities James and Phil Younghusband. Award-winning TV broadcast journalist Luchi Cruz-Valdes, together with her senior reporters Roices Naguit-Sibal, Maricel Halili, and Ina Zara takes a shot on getting James' and Phil's insights on football, family and fame. Anggulo airs after P.S. I Love You on TV5 and can also be seen over Aksyon TV (Channel 41 in Mega Manila, Channel 29 in Metro Cebu and Davao, Channel 1 on Cignal Digital TV and Channel 59 on Sky Cable).
