Billy Vigar, the former Arsenal youth player, died in tragic circumstances on Thursday, September 25, following a “significant brain injury” sustained due to a collision with the concrete wall at the Maurice
Rebak Stadium in London. The shocking incident happened in a Non League game for Chichester City away at Wingate and Finchley FC last Saturday, but there is no confirmation for the same from either of the clubs.
In the aftermath of the tragic turn of events, the Football Association (FA) have said that they are going to carry out a safety review of the perimeter walls at football grounds in the National League system, as per the report from BBC Sport. There has been a petition put in place for a ban on brick walls around pitches in football, which got more than 4,000 signatures, as of this writing.
We will now conduct an immediate review, working with leagues, clubs and relevant stakeholders: FA
The statement from the FA on this delicate matter read, “We will now conduct an immediate review, working with leagues, clubs and relevant stakeholders across the game, that will focus on the safety of perimeter walls and boundaries around pitches in the National League system. This will include looking at ways we can assist National League system clubs to identify and implement additional measures at their stadiums that they determine will help to mitigate any potential safety risks.”
Moreover, the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) also weighed-in on the matter of brick walls around football stadiums, stating that there should be a full investigation about it apart from ensuring that players aren’t “put at unnecessary and avoidable risk”. The Chief Executive of the PFA, Maheta Molango said that the “opportunities to make grounds safer for players have not been missed”.
But at the same time, he remarked, “All of our thoughts right now are with Billy's family and friends, and providing whatever support we can to them. All footballers should expect to be safe when they go out to play or train.”
