| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mark William Philo | ||
| Date of birth | 5 October 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Bracknell, England | ||
| Date of death | 14 January 2006 (aged 21) | ||
| Place of death | Reading, England | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| West Ham United | |||
| Crystal Palace | |||
| 1999–2003 | Wycombe Wanderers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2003–2006 | Wycombe Wanderers | 17 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Mark William Philo (5 October 1984 – 14 January 2006) was an English professional footballer. He was born in Bracknell, Berkshire and spent his whole professional career at Wycombe Wanderers. He died on 14 January 2006 in a road traffic collision.
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Philo joined Wycombe at the age of 15, having been on the books of both West Ham and Crystal Palace. He made his debut for the Wycombe first team in February 2004 under Tony Adams and signed a contract until the summer of 2005, which was extended to June 2007 by John Gorman. He played 17 matches for the club's first team.
Philo suffered two broken ankles in consecutive years reducing the games he play for the club severely, first a broken right ankle then a hairline fracture to his left leg at in pre-season game before the 2005/6 season. Philo was only weeks away from a first team start when he died.
Mark Philo died on 14 January 2006 after sustaining serious head injuries in a road traffic collision after his silver Vauxhall Astra veered onto the wrong side of the road and crashed into a Renault Megane driven by 58-year-old Patricia Gammon at the junction of Sandhurst Road and Finchampstead Road in Wokingham, Berkshire at about 1:20am. Philo was rushed to Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, Berkshire, and died at around 4:20pm.
His manager, John Gorman, paid tribute to him by saying, "He was a fantastic kid. He lived for football and always had a smile on his face." The Wycombe players held up a banner for Philo after their League Cup game against Chelsea at Adams Park.
Later investigations revealed Philo was significantly over the drink-drive limit after drinking in the Golden Retriever pub in Wokingham, from 8.30pm until closing time. Philo and two friends then drove to look for another bar to continue drinking and ended up at The Gig House, where they stayed drinking for another hour. According to an eyewitness, Philo was travelling above the speed limit when he veered on to the wrong side of the road and into Gammon's Megane and then a telegraph pole, where he suffered horrific injuries resulting in his death 15 hours later. Gammon a mother of two was killed instantly.
PC Andrew Bryant, the collision investigation officer, confirmed that Mark Philo's car was on the wrong side of the road when the smash happened. He said: "The blame in this collision appears to lie with the driver of the Vauxhall Astra. Excess alcohol and driving over the centre of the road were contributing factors. As soon as you exceed the alcohol limit your ability to drive is significantly impaired."[1]