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PSV are mourning the death of Mr Frits Philips, who passed away quietly in his sleep on Monday night at the age of 100. PSV have always been one of the main themes in the life of this legendary former industrialist. 18 titlesAs a five- year old kid, Frits Philips was invited in 1911 to kick off a game of the Philips Football team, the predecessors of the current PSV side, on a small pitch at the Frederiklaan, where the Philips Stadium is now situated. He was the only son of Dr Anton Philips, the man who founded the club. At the age of 100, Frits Philips gave Philips the green light once again, last January, this time to build a new ground for the PSV Youth Academy and amateur department. PSV captain Mark van Bommel presented the championship plate to him last April. Frits Philips was present at all 18 of the club's Dutch championship successes. ‘Mister Frits’ witnessed the rich history at the Frederiklaan from close range. He attended the meeting on 31 August 1913, when PSV was officially founded and he has been a life-long supporter ever since. All the fans, club officials and representatives of the press regard him as the PSV fan par excellence and as a genuine PSV monument.CommitmentDue to his commitment with the town of Eindhoven and the comfortable way he associated with people in large sections of the population, he developed into an icon of the town. Eindhoven celebrated his 100th birthday in high spirits 16 April last. Once more he proved to be a very popular man with the PSV fans, city citizens and (former) Philips employees. Mister Frits is legendary in many respects. He was the last member of the Philips family that had a leading position in the company. When he was just 25 years of age and had become a mechanical engineer, he became a manager at Philips and his father Anton asked him to take the responsibility as a member of the board, which he did to the satisfaction of everybody concerned. He took charge of the whole company during the war, when he was just 35 years old, as his father and the entire board of directors had taken refuge England. Frits did not want to leave his staff alone. Several times the occupiers threatened to kill him, as they thought he did not cooperate. He was even taken to prison, was released, but he soon had to go into hiding until Eindhoven was liberated in September 1944. He epitomized the multinational after the war until his retirement in 1971. He was then appointed chairman of the board, which position he occupied until 1977.CondolencesPSV offer their sincerest condolences to the Philips family, the entire PSV community and the town of Eindhoven.
