Former Arsenal starlet Billy Vigar has died at the age of just 21 after colliding with a concrete wall during a match.
The striker, who played for Chichester City in the Isthmian League Premier Division, endured the sickening collision in Saturday’s game against Wingate and Finchley while attempting to prevent the ball from crossing the touchline.
The match was said to have been halted as an ambulance and air ambulance arrived to treat the 21-year-old, before the clash was abandoned after 13 minutes.
The incident left Vigar with a “significant brain injury”, which led to him to be placed in an induced coma.
Chichester have now confirmed that the player has tragically passed away due to his injuries, and posted a statement from his family on social media.
The statement 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 he loved.”
The death comes almost three years after the Professional Footballers’ Association demanded that safety rules around advertising boards be “fully reviewed”, in a move that was sparked by a similar injury suffered by former Bath City striker Alex Fletcher.
Fletcher was forced into retirement at the age of just 25 last year as a result of serious injuries sustained when he careened into a concrete-backed advertising hoarding in November 2022, and was among those who have offered their support to Vigar.
Vigar was an academy graduate at Hale End and featured prominently for Arsenal’s under-18 and under-21 sides before his exit in the summer of 2024, having never made a senior appearance.
He joined Chichester this summer after spells in Sussex football with Hastings and Eastbourne Borough, having scored his first senior goal at the latter.
