“Phil Younghusband… More Than The Game”

My cover story for ONE SPORT Magazine


Beyond the piercing hazel-colored eyes, athletic physique, the British accent, and the celebrity status, Phil Younghusband shows that he’s not just a mere soccer star. He’s prodigious on and off the pitch.

“In my 22 years I feel like I’ve been through a lot and I have so many stories to tell specially in football. As I kid I wanted to grow up as the best football player in the world that’s still my goal. But being in the Philippines gives me more determination to make football succeed.”

Phil has faith that football will someday draw as many disciples as basketball within his lifetime. It’s that same belief that has driven him to settle back here and set up shop. It’s a leap, and he’s taken it without any hesitation. “It’s because I feel Filipinos can succeed in this sport. You don’t need to be 6’6” or 6’10” to be a football player. The best football players in the world are 5’6, 5’7 so it’s all about skill and hard work, something all Filipinos have. The great thing about football is it has everything - it has drama, it has action. And you can go from being a zero to hero or vice versa.”

He talked about the need to set up a professional league as the base for the sport’s growth. “People are working hard to create this. In the provinces it’s very popular so you have lots of players who do play because there’s available fields, whereas in Metro Manila there’s not enough room. I think a pro league needs to be set up then eventually, our country can be represented and hopefully gain international success”.

So what’s the biggest hindrance? Phil believes it’s money. “If you put all the money into football, people will play football. But the money right now is into basketball and it’s the most marketable sport in the Philippines.” And he vows that till he sees progress, he won’t give up. “You need someone to invest and to believe that there is a future in it”.

The Younghusbands certainly are using their own marketability to draw attention to football. And why not? “We’re not ugly people and we are very marketable… Not saying we’re good looking we just have good family genes.”

Phil and his brother James, who is just 11 months older than him, have elevated the status of the sport in our country with their success playing for the prestigious Chelsea Football Club. His training with Chelsea put him under the wings of some of the best Premiere League coaches like Claudio Ranieri and Gianfranco Zola to name a few. During his stint with the Youth Team, Phil in fact was the top scorer back in the 2003 season which got him a deal to play for the First Team in the pre-season and the Chelsea Reserves for a year. After which, he came to the Philippines and helped the National Team during the ‘05 SEA Games held here and the ASEAN Championships in ‘07.

“I think with that success you do become idols and you do have people looking up to you because they want to do what you have done, imitate how successful you are and go even further. In terms of football, we are probably one of the most successful, with Filipino blood, in the Philippines. So I think with that, comes people idolizing you”.

Does he see himself as the David Beckham of the Philippines? “I can’t say I’m anything like David Beckham because of the things he’s done. He’s a legend in England and a legend around the world.”

But he does want to emulate the Becks effect. “He attracts people who eventually become football fans and that’s what I wanted to do . Use the showbiz and the modelling side so people who aren’t interested in football become more interested in football. If they come to games, just to watch me take my shirt off or my brother, or anyone, if that’s an excuse for them to come and watch football then so be it.

But once they start watching football they’ll realize it’s a great game for Filipinos. If that’s what it takes then I’ll do it. Anything to promote football.”
“My priority is to promote the sport so right now I’ve got the Younghusband academy along with the MPLFA football association where we go around as football disciples, spreading the word, giving talks. We’re doing it because we love football and we want it to succeed. And we want Filipinos to succeed. Look at Japan 20 years ago they were a baseball country and now they’re a football country. And before basketball came into the Philippines, it was football because of the Spanish influence. But because the Americans came over, they influenced us to be a basketball country. Hopefully we can revert to that.” He dreams of training a young team now, and get a shot at the world cup in 2018.

Another mission Phil, and James are adamant about is the 1GOAL project which they are the ambassadors for in the Philippines. It’s a global signature campaign that aims to make education a priority and help some 72 million children including 6 million from the Philippines to complete their primary schooling. They need 30 million supporters by end of August to show to the UN heads of State in September. (you can support by visiting www.vsobahaginan.org.ph/ 1goal)

Well FIFA picked the perfect ambassadors because the Younghusbands cherish and value their education. “My mom and dad always made sure that academics was always as important as football. If I ever got injured If I ever was not good enough, I’d have something to fall back on. And they made sure I always studied and that’s helped me.” Phil majored in Major Math Mechanics Salesians School in London where he was an “Advanced Level” scholar. Enough said.