There was an air of emptiness and despair at Chichester City Football Club on Friday afternoon as people arrived to pay tribute to Billy Vigar, the 21-year-old who died following an accident on a football pitch.
Chichester City announced on Thursday that Vigar had passed away after sustaining a “significant brain injury” during their away fixture against Wingate & Finchley in Barnet, north London, on Saturday, September 20.
More than two dozen bouquets of flowers lay outside Oaklands Park come Friday evening, with the club’s home shirt hanging above the floral tributes.
“You may be gone from the pitch, but you’ll never be gone from our hearts,” read one of the cards.
“Can’t believe we are doing this. Such a young and talented player. Heaven has gained a striker,” read another.
In Thursday’s statement, the club said the former Arsenal academy striker was “put in an induced coma” and, on Tuesday, “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,” their statement added. “His family are devastated that this has happened whilst he was playing the sport that he loved.”
There was also a card — addressed to “Billy’s family” — from “the staff who support Chi City FC from St Richard’s Hospital”.
After reading the tributes, a friend of Vigar’s poignantly touched the shirt and stood still for a handful of minutes before walking to the pitch.
Tributes are paid to Billy Vigar at Chichester City (Dan Sheldon)
Vigar’s death will spark wider questions around player safety, three years on from a similar incident that almost led to the death of Bath City’s Alex Fletcher.
Vigar was playing on a football pitch surrounded by a concrete perimeter and sustained a fatal brain injury, with Headway UK — a charity that specialises in improving life after brain injuries — saying Vigar “reportedly collided with a wall at the side of the pitch”.
Luke Griggs, the brain charity’s chief executive, added: “This is a moment that will unite the football world, all fans and those in the game will no doubt register the shock of a player dying as a result of a collision with a concrete wall at the side of a football pitch.
“This is the second such incident in the last few years, with Alex Fletcher of Bath City experiencing career-ending injuries through a similar incident.”
Former Bath City forward Fletcher retired from football at the age of 25, over a year after a collision with a concrete advertising hoarding left him in intensive care and requiring emergency brain surgery in November 2022.
Fletcher has since been working for the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), the players’ union, to campaign for changes inside stadiums that would prevent a repeat of the incident that left him fighting for his life.
Following Vigar’s death, the English Football Association (FA) announced on Friday that it will “conduct an immediate review 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,” the FA statement added.
Maheta Molango, chief executive of the PFA, called for a “formal investigation into the incident that has led to Billy Vigar’s tragic death”.
“All footballers should expect to be safe when they go out to play or train, and to not be put at unnecessary and avoidable risk by factors beyond their control,” Molongo said in a statement.
“When we previously highlighted potential safety issues in grounds and stadiums, the sports minister and I wrote to all the football authorities to urge them to be proactive on this and to make sure all their rules and regulations around player safety were fit for purpose.”
Chichester City and Wingate & Finchley play in the Isthmian League Premier Division, the seventh tier of English football, and, unlike in professional football, paramedics are not required to be on site. The fixtures are usually watched by hundreds of people, as opposed to thousands.
At Wingate & Finchley’s previous home game, against Hashtag United on September 9, for example, 193 supporters were in attendance, with their home game against Whitehawk in August attracting 157 spectators.
A London Ambulance Service (LAS) spokesperson told The Athletic that the initial emergency call on Saturday was made at 3.15pm, when they were informed of a “person injured”.
Such was the concern regarding the injury, LAS confirmed it dispatched two ambulance crews, a paramedic in a fast response car, an incident response officer and an air ambulance.
“The first paramedic arrived in around four minutes,” a spokesperson for LAS said. “We treated a patient at the scene and took him to a major trauma centre by road.”
As they begin to process what happened last weekend, Chichester City announced their league match against Lewes, due to take place on Saturday afternoon, would be postponed, while Wingate & Finchley’s fixture against Canvey Island has been called off.
Vigar joined Arsenal’s academy aged 14, having been scouted at Hove Rivervale, an amateur club based in Hove, Sussex, and quickly stood out, scoring 17 goals in his first season.
He earned a scholarship at Arsenal, who said they are “devastated by the shocking news” of his death, and signed a professional contract with the Premier League side in July 2022.
Vigar was in the same academy intake as Omari Hutchinson, Brooke Norton-Cuffy and Charlie Patino, among others, with all three of those players paying tribute to their former team-mate.
“He’s probably the most low-maintenance footballer I’ve ever worked with.” Dan Micciche, who coached Vigar for Arsenal’s under-15s, under-16s and under-18s, told The Athletic.
Billy Vigar, second from the left, in action for Arsenal Under-18s in 2022 (David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
“He was just so polite and respectful at all times, not just now and again. I know it’s easy for people to say these things when people have gone, but it’s the honest truth.”
Such was Vigar’s desire to develop at Arsenal, he commuted from Brighton to Hale End, a journey that can often take upwards of two hours, to attend the evening training sessions.
“Myself and the academy leadership team organised for him to stay in a hotel a couple of nights a week and do his education at Hale End to minimise the travel,” Micciche added.
“He was just such an easy-going person. Never complained, never moaned. If he did challenge anything, he always did it in the right way. Respectful, soft manner. He’s basically a mirror of what his parents are like, personality-wise. He was an absolute pleasure to work with.”
The Tunnel Remembers: Billy Vigar 2003-2025 💔🤍 #Arsenal #StreetArt pic.twitter.com/2jWPss6Tvp
— @Northbanksy (@northbanksyafc) September 26, 2025
Des Ryan, Arsenal’s former head of academy sports medicine and athletic development, knew Vigar and was equally effusive in his reflections of the 21-year-old.
“He was an exceptionally talented player in terms of his athletic ability,” Ryan told The Athletic.
“He had fantastic power, speed and he scored goals. Billy was very diligent in relation to his training, very well brought up, had great manners and did everything he was asked and always did extra.
“Billy was quiet at times, but maybe that was me because I was management. I did see him laughing, enjoying time with the other academy players in the gym. I could see a spark in him when he was around the other players.
“Enjoyment was there, happiness was there when he was in the academy in the environment of the gyms, the changing room, the pitches. He did really love football and training.”
A spate of injuries curtailed Vigar’s prospects of forging a career at Arsenal and, after a loan spell with Eastbourne Borough in 2023-24, he left the club to join Hastings United before the 2024-25 season. He signed for Chichester City at the start of the 2025-26 season.
The striker spent a year on loan with Derby County’s under-21s in 2022-23.
“It’s just so sad,” Darren Wassall, academy director at Derby County when Vigar was signed, told The Athletic.
“On and off the pitch, he was so genuine — an unbelievable role model for everyone. On the pitch, he was so honest and hard-working and gave everything for us. But most importantly, off the pitch, you couldn’t meet a nicer person.
“That’s the biggest tribute I can pay to him and his family, that he was a reflection of them and they should be really proud of him as a person, not just a footballer. He was top-notch. He came to Derby because he wanted game time and he was exemplary in everything he did with us.
“I really can’t speak highly enough of him and it’s so tragic because you just never expect this sort of thing to happen to a 21-year-old playing the game he loves.”
Pat Lyons was in charge of Derby’s under-21s when Vigar was at the club.
“I quickly learned we could always rely on him in terms of attitude, application and professionalism,” Lyons said. “He settled in quite quickly and understood what was expected of a footballer that age. He came on the last day of the transfer window and for him to come up to Derby out of the blue showed his character. His attitude was, ‘I’m not getting many minutes for Arsenal, I just want to play’. And he played most games for us.
“He liked to run in behind, he could hold it, stretch the opposition and then, out of possession, he was a willing runner who would go and press the opposition and put himself about. He was a threat if you got balls in the box.
“He was a lovely lad and when I got the news I was absolutely devastated. I couldn’t believe it, that something like that could happen on a football pitch.“
One memory of Vigar that sticks out to Micciche is from a trip to Singapore.
“We won a tournament over there with the likes of Omari Hutchinson and Brooke Norton-Cuffy,” Micciche recalled, “and he loved that tour. I was actually watching the montage back this morning (Friday). It’s like 15 minutes long, and there was a big Arsenal following over there and he was having selfies with supporters.
“He was a team player. He always put others before himself and didn’t look for personal glory. He would look for an assist rather than score himself. I wished he believed in himself more and believed in himself as much as others did.
“He picked up a few injuries along the way and had a lot of bad luck with them. If he hadn’t had those injuries, he had the tools to be a footballer, no doubt about it.”
Luca Hodges-Ramon represented Vigar from the age of 16 and was at his bedside after the accident. “I didn’t realise I was saying goodbye to Billy at that point, but I got to see him and I consider myself lucky in that respect,” he said.
How did Hodges-Ramon find out about the incident? “I was on the way back from a game on Saturday and got a phone call from my colleague Noah, who knows the Chichester manager really well.
“You always keep hope and faith, partly because of how much he’d overcome already, so many setbacks. He was so strong and he always fought to the very end. So you felt that if anyone could overcome something like this, it would be Billy. But obviously once you start to understand how serious the injury is… you’re hoping and praying.”
Vigar was “one of the first big youth players” Hodges-Ramon signed after becoming an agent.
“I remember the phone call I got from Keith, his dad, to say he was going to sign with me and CMG Sports, the agency. In those days I was lecturing at university as well as working as an agent, and I was in a seminar when Keith called, so I couldn’t pick up the phone. I was desperate to get out because I knew it would be Keith giving me an answer, and I was so delighted when I found out. Billy was a really exciting talent, and I also had a feeling then that the relationship was going to be long-term.
“Billy worked so hard, he never gave up, he ran relentlessly, he did the jobs that some players would be less willing to do. He always thought about others. He was so humble, caring and well-mannered. He was a reflection of his family, who are all beautiful people and they can be so proud of him.
“I can’t remember him complaining ever. And he could have had a lot to complain about — the injuries, the setbacks, having to drop into non-League.
“Billy was injured virtually all of his scholarship years, but he signed a two-year pro deal because Arsenal saw the potential in him. Per Mertesacker (Arsenal’s academy manager) called me to say that, despite the fact he hadn’t played as much as they’d have liked, the pro contract was because of what he brought to the group in terms of his attitude, his work ethic and the example he set, and also because he gave them something different. Maybe at times he lacked a little bit of that self-confidence or belief that you need to be the main man. But that’s also what made him such a good person. That is what I remember most.
“We always thought Billy could get back to becoming a professional footballer, and I thought Chichester was going to be the turning point for him in the senior game.”
With the FA announcing an “immediate review” and the PFA calling for a “formal investigation” into the circumstances that led to Vigar’s death, the continued use and the safety of concrete walls around the perimeter of football pitches in the National League System will likely be scrutinised more than ever before.
The Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SSGA), the UK government’s expert body on safety at sports grounds, has offered its support in any investigation that now takes place.
“Whilst the ground is outside of the scope of the SGSA’s licensing remit, the SGSA stands ready to support the relevant stakeholders in any investigation arising,” its statement read. “The SGSA is committed to ensuring that any lessons to be learned are identified and shared across the sports safety sector.”
The UK Government’s Department for Sport, Media and Culture (DCMS) has also intervened.
“Safety in sport is paramount to prevent such tragedies,” a DCMS spokesperson said.
“Unfortunately, this is not a new issue in football and has been raised with relevant football authorities before, and we continue to engage with the PFA and authorities regarding matters of safety.”
Asked if he would like to make any additional comments about Vigar, Micciche, who is now the head of academy at Saudi Arabian side Al Ahli, spoke about what Vigar’s lasting legacy could be.
“This horrendous tragedy couldn’t have happened to a more likeable person,” Micciche added. “That’s why this has hit so many people so hard.
“It will all come out later in terms of what happened and how we avoid it in the future, so I guess his long-lasting legacy is going to be to save a lot of lives with change that has to come into play.
“But unfortunately, it’s been at the expense of his own life. That’s the thing that we’re all struggling to deal with, he just didn’t get much luck along the way and then he had the worst possible bad luck doing the thing he loved doing the most.”
Additional contributors: Art de Roche and Stuart James
(Top photo: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
