F2Freestylers | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Lynch and Wingrove shooting a promotional video forSoccer Aid 2019 | ||||||||||
| Born | ||||||||||
| Nationality | British[3][1] | |||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
| Also known as | The F2[4] | |||||||||
| Channel | ||||||||||
| Years active | 2011–2021 | |||||||||
| Genres | ||||||||||
| Subscribers | 14 million[5] | |||||||||
| Total views | 3.2 billion[5] | |||||||||
| Associated acts | freekickerz | |||||||||
| ||||||||||
Last updated: 16 January 2023 | ||||||||||
| Website | thef2 | |||||||||
TheF2Freestylers, also known asthe F2, are a Britishfreestyle football duo comprising former amateur footballers Billy Wingrove and Jeremy Lynch.[2][3] They are best known for theirYouTube channel which has over 14 million subscribers.[7][8]
Wingrove and Lynch have been described as "teenage rejects", having been rejected by the academies of professional football clubs in their youths before finding success as influencers and YouTube freestyle footballers.[7]
Wingrove comes from a footballing family, with his father Alan briefly playing in the youth set-ups ofTottenham Hotspur andArsenal and his cousin,Greg Lincoln, being part of the first team squad atArsenal—though Lincoln never actually played for the club.[9][10] Wingrove had a trial forTottenham Hotspur aged 11, but was told he was too small and therefore not physically strong enough to make it at professional level.[10][7] He began performing freestyle football to earn money while continuing to pursue a footballing career, playing at youth level forEnfield Town and then semi-professionally forWare from 2004 until 2009.[7]
Wingrove was the first professional freestyle footballer to sign for a Premier League club, signing for Tottenham Hotspur—who had previously rejected him as a youngster—in 2003,[11] for whom he would perform at half-time breaks and corporate events and occasionally fill in for first-team players in advertisements.[7][12]
Lynch has stated that he played inArsenal's Academy as a teenager, before later being released.[13][14][15] However on an episode ofJaackMaate's Happy Hour Podcast, former professional footballer and Arsenal academy graduate,Fabrice Muamba, revealed that he did not recall Lynch being a part of the squads when he was at the club.[16]
Lynch began learning freestyle skills and tricks in 2000 after watching aNike commercial featuringEdgar Davids andDenílson de Oliveira.[8] He featured in the 2007 documentary filmIn the Hands of the Gods, and reached the semi-finals ofBritain's Got Talent in 2008.[17]
Eventually, Wingrove and Lynch decided to commit to making a career in freestyle football as a duo, realising they would have more success as a marketable pairing than attempting to pursuing careers as professional footballers.[7]
Together, the duo have been invited to perform at a number of high-profile footballing events, including theBallon d'Or awards ceremony.[7] They have featured in several charity football events,[18] includingSoccer Aid in 2018,[17] where Lynch scored for the England side,[19] and in 2019 in which Lynch scored twice, again for England.[20] Lynch returned in the 2020 Soccer Aid match playing for the World XI due to his Jamaican ancestry.[21]
In 2017, the pair led a team of YouTubers and ex-professional footballers competing under the name Tekkers Town in theWembley Cup againstHashtag United,[citation needed] and in 2018, they entered the competition as F2 FC, winning in thefinal against Rebel FC.[22]
On 8 April 2011, the duo registered their YouTube channel, F2Freestylers,[6] on which they publish freestyle videos and tutorials to showcase football skills and tricks, often featuring celebrities and professional footballers, as well as videos relating to theFIFA video game series.[7] As of 5 September 2021, their YouTube channel has 13 million subscribers and 2.8 billion views.[6]
As well as earning money from YouTube's ad-revenue monetisation, Wingrove and Lynch's videos feature brand endorsements; previous sponsorship deals includeAdidas andCarlsberg.[23][7]
During theCOVID-19 pandemic, as ambassadors forSantander UK, Wingrove and Lynch produced a series of videos designed to improve numeracy and increase physical activity in line with UK curriculums for students unable to attend school during lockdown.[24]
In 2018, Wingrove and Lynch produced aYouTube original series, titledF2 Finding Football, which was streamed onYouTube Premium.[25] The series, which features a number of celebrity guests,[26] was well received and was nominated for aDaytime Emmy Award for an Outstanding Travel and Adventure Program as well as twoStreamy Awards.[27]
In 2018, Wingrove and Lynch established a football management agency, F2 Talent, despite neither being a licensed intermediary with theFA. The agency courted controversy over the use of a photo publicising a newly signed young player, violating the FA's policy to not promote players under the age of 15.[23]
Also in 2018, the duo founded F2 Revolution, an agency aimed at recruiting 'social talent'.[23]
Lynch signed a short-term semi-professional contract withBillericay Town in 2017, playing in theIsthmian Premier League.[28] He registered his first goals for the club on 3 October 2017, scoring Billericay's fifth and sixth goal in a 7-1 win againstHungerford Town in theFA Cup.[29] After being absent from the team for several matches in late 2017, the club revealed onTwitter that it had been agreed with Lynch that his work as part of the F2Freestylers would take priority over playing for Billericay.[30] Billericay went on to win the league, giving Lynch a winner's medal. He played eight total matches.[31]
Lynch also posts short videos to hisTikTok account, on which he has a following of over 11.3 million users.[32][33]
Wingrove and Lynch have authored the following books published by Bonnier Books Ltd:[34]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)If you are below the age of 18, you will probably not need any introduction to Wingrove or Lynch, aka "The F2".