James Joseph Younghusband (born 4 September 1986) is a former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played mostly as a

right midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and sometimes as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. Born in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England to an English father and Filipino mother, Younghusband played for the

youth team In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. He spent his early senior career in the lower levels of

English football Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association f ...

with

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

Staines Town Staines Town Football Club was a semi-professional Association football, football club based in Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex. History Early days Staines Town FC was founded in 1892 and was known under various names including ''Staines F.C ...

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

, and

Farnborough Farnborough may refer to: Australia * Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone United Kingdom * Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England ** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a railw ...

. He moved to the Philippines in 2011 where he played for San Beda,

Loyola Meralco Sparks Loyola Football Club is a Filipino association football club based in Metro Manila. The club has won one UFL Cup and one PFF National Men's Club Championship. Founded as Loyola Agila Football Club in 2006, the club changed its name to Loyola M ...

(later Meralco Manila),

Davao Aguilas The Davao Aguilas Football Club (abbreviated as DAFC) is a Filipino professional football club based in the city of Tagum, Davao del Norte. From 2017 to 2018, the club has played in the Philippines Football League (PFL), the highest level of foo ...

, and Ceres–Negros. Younghusband played for the Philippines national team from 2005 to 2020, representing them in the

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with supe ...

AFF Championship The ASEAN Football Federation Championship (less formally the AFF Championship or AFF Cup), currently known as the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup for sponsorship reason, is the primary association football tournament organized by the ASEAN Football ...

, and

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

. He earned 101 caps and scored 12 goals for the senior national team. Younghusband's younger brother,

Phil Phil may refer to: * Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names * Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil" * Phil, Kentucky, United States * ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film * -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as a root te ...

, was also a footballer. The brothers have been teammates for both club and country.

Club career

San Beda

On 15 April 2011, it was reported that Younghusband and his younger brother Phil announced that they will join San Beda for the 2011 National Club Championships under former national coach

Aris Caslib Jose Ariston Caslib also known as Aris Caslib, is a Filipino football coach who last coached Philippines Football League club Meralco Manila. He currently serves as the FIFA Technical Consultant for the Southeast Asian region. Caslib has also be ...

. In the final, San Beda lost 3–0 to Teknika in the first leg. In the second leg, Younghusband scored from a free kick to make the score 2–0 to San Beda. San Beda, however, were not able to find a third a goal and Teknika won 3–2 on aggregate.

Meralco Manila

After the conclusion of the 2011 National Club Championship, he and his younger brother would be joining Loyola Agila on three-year deals. In a round of 16 match in the

2011–12 United Football Cup The 2011 United Football Cup was the third edition of the United Football Cup that ran from mid-October to mid-December 2011. This edition consisted of 28 teams which were separated into seven groups with the top two teams of the group advancin ...

match, Younghusband scored his first goal for Loyola in a 14–0 win over Sunken Garden United. He scored his second goal in the semi-finals in a 5–4 victory over Kaya after being 3–0 down at half-time. Loyola lost the final 2–0 to

Philippine Air Force The Philippine Air Force (PAF) ( tgl, Hukbong Himpapawid ng Pilipinas, , Army of the Air of the Philippines) ( es, Ejército Aérea del Filipinas, , Ejército de la Aérea de la Filipinas) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Armed Forc ...

. Younghusband scored his first league goal for Loyola in a 2–1 victory over

Philippine Army The Philippine Army (PA) ( Tagalog: ''Hukbong Katihan ng Pilipinas''; in literal English: ''Army of the Ground of the Philippines''; in literal Spanish: ''Ejército de la Tierra de la Filipinas'') is the main, oldest and largest branch of the ...

. He then scored a brace in a 4–3 win against

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before adding another against Kaya. He then scored a hat-trick in a 14–0 thrashing of

Philippine Navy The Philippine Navy (PN) ( tgl, Hukbong Dagat ng Pilipinas, , Sea Army of the Philippines) ( es, Armada de Filipinas, , Ejército del Mar de las Filipinas) is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It has an e ...

. Leading 3–1, Younghusband received his first red card in the United Football League after a row with Air Force player Herbert Bayona after which Younghusband shoved Bayona. The sending off inspired Air Force to score twice in one minute to draw the match 3–3. When Loyola Meralco joined the

Philippines Football League The Philippines Football League, commonly known as PFL, is a Filipino professional football league sanctioned by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF). It is the Philippines' highest level of men's club football, supplanting the United Footb ...

(PFL) in 2017, it renamed itself as Meral Manila and Younghusband remained with the club.

Davao Aguilas

James Younghusband along with his brother was officially signed in by

of the PFL in August 2017. The Younghusbands played for the club for two seasons until its dissolution by the end of the 2018 season.

Ceres Negros

After months of being without a club, James Younghusband was signed in by Ceres Negros of the PFL in August 2019. Younghusband announced his retirement on 25 June 2020. He initially planned to play for Ceres for at least the whole 2020 season but decided to retire earlier due to the league being postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

International career

Early in 2005, the

Philippine Football Federation The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) is the governing body of association football in the Philippines. Established as the Philippine Amateur Football Association (PAFA) in 1907, the PFF is one of the oldest national football associations in ...

was alerted by an anonymous video gamer regarding the eligibility of James and Phil Younghusband's to play for the Philippine national team, allegedly by finding out about their lineage via the ''

Football Manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

'' series. He and Phil, his younger brother, were eventually called up to the Southeast Asian nation's football squad, amidst much fanfare. Younghusband participated in the

2005 Southeast Asian Games The 2005 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 23rd Southeast Asian Games, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Manila, Philippines. This was the third time the Philippines hosted the games and its first time since 1991 S ...

, which was held in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. He also ensured the advancement of the Philippine team to the group stage of the

2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification The 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification phase saw eight teams advance to the final tournament in Nepal. The qualification draw was held on 20 October 2010, in AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Seeding The seedings are based on the 2010 AFC Cha ...

by scoring in the fourth minute of the away match against Mongolia in the qualifying play-off. Younghusband was a mainstay of the Philippine national team in the 2010s, with his last stint being the

2019 AFC Asian Cup The 2019 AFC Asian Cup was the 17th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in the United Arab Emirates from 5 January to 1 ...

International goals

:''Scores and results list the Philippines' goal tally first''

Personal life

Younghusband was born in

Ashford, Surrey Ashford is a town almost wholly in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, with a small area contained within the boundaries of the London Borough of Hounslow, approximately west-southwest of central London. Its name derives from a crossing point ...

, England to a British father and a

Filipina Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or other ...

mother (both deceased). He is the brother of Philippine team forward

Phil Younghusband Philip James Younghusband Jr. (born 4 August 1987) is a former professional footballer who played mostly as a striker and sometimes as a midfielder. Younghusband is best known for his performances with the Philippines national team, playing ...

. After his retirement from football, Younghusband plans to return to England with his sister Keri.

Notes

References

External links

* *
James Younghusband Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Younghusband, James 1986 births Living people People from Ashford, Surrey Citizens of the Philippines through descent English people of Filipino descent Filipino people of English descent Filipino people of British descent Filipino British sportspeople British Asian footballers English footballers Filipino footballers Filipino expatriate footballers Philippines international footballers Association football wingers AFC Wimbledon players Chelsea F.C. players Farnborough F.C. players Staines Town F.C. players Woking F.C. players F.C. Meralco Manila players Davao Aguilas F.C. players Ceres–Negros F.C. players 2019 AFC Asian Cup players FIFA Century Club