FA urged to ban ‘lethal’ concrete walls around pitches after Billy Vigar’s death

The Football Association has been urged to ban concrete walls around football pitches after Billy Vigar’s death this week.

The 21-year-old, who came through Arsenal’s academy, died on Thursday after suffering a ‘significant brain injury’ whilst playing for Chichester City last Saturday.

Chichester were away at Wingate and Finchley, whose stadium has a brick wall running along the perimeter of the pitch, when the match was abandoned after 13 minutes.

It is understood that Vigar collided with the wall when he tried to keep the ball in play.

A statement from Vigar’s family read: ‘After sustaining a significant brain injury last Saturday, Billy Vigar was put in an induced coma.

‘On Tuesday he needed an operation to aid any chances of recovery. Although this helped, the injury proved too much for him and he passed away on Thursday morning. 

‘The responses to the original update show how much Billy was thought of and loved within the sport.

‘His family are devastated that this has happened whilst he was playing the sport that he loved.’ 

Clubs have now urged the FA to act quickly following Vigar’s death and oversee the removal of concrete walls that are in close proximity to football pitches.

‘All clubs need the FA to instruct an immediate enquiry into pitch surrounds,’ said Dorking Wanderers chairman Marc White.

‘Many are dangerous and players always have to be cautious given the proximity from the pitch. But some simply do not move and are lethal. These need removing immediately.’

A petition for ‘Vigar’s Law’, which calls for the banning of brick walls around pitches, has been set up and has received over 2,600 signatures.

‘We, football lovers, urgently call for the removal of brick walls and other hard, immovable structures surrounding football pitches,’ the petition reads.

‘This petition is driven by the heartbreaking death of Billy Vigar, a young and talented footballer whose life was tragically cut short after a collision with a pitch-side brick wall. Billy’s passing is not an isolated incident—countless players at all levels have suffered serious injuries, including broken bones, concussions, and life-altering trauma, as a result of these dangerous barriers.

‘Football is meant to be a sport of passion, skill, and community—not a place where a simple fall or a mistimed run can result in permanent injury or death. Yet many pitches, especially at grassroots and community level, remain bordered by solid brick walls placed only a few feet from the touchline. These walls serve no essential sporting purpose, yet they create an undeniable and avoidable hazard.

‘Billy Vigar’s death must be the last. We owe it to his memory—and to every player who steps onto a football pitch—to ensure that no one else suffers such a needless tragedy. Football should be a game of joy and community, not a place where preventable hazards claim young lives.’

Two years ago, the FA were urged to review safety regulations at lower-league stadiums after Bath City striker Alex Fletcher crashed into a concrete advertising hoarding during a match.

The 26-year-old was in intensive care and required emergency brain surgery.

‘If I had lost my life I feel like more would have been done,’ Fletcher told BBC Points West in December 2023.

‘Now that I have recovered and got back on the pitch it has been a bit swept under the carpet.

‘We need to look at the surfaces those pitch perimeters are built with, especially the lower down the level you go.

‘The older grounds in the lower ends in the Football League, you’ve got a lot of these quite simply unfit-for-purpose materials, like brick walls around the pitch.

‘Although they house the advertising hoardings they are not fit for purpose. That needs to be reconsidered.’

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