Ryan Smart
The owner of National League South side Dorking Wanderers has released a strong statement on social media after former Arsenal striker Billy Vigar died from a serious brain injury suffered during a match.
Vigar, 21, was playing in an away match for Chichester City against Wingate and Finchley on Saturday, when he is believed to have collided with a concrete wall that enclosed the pitch.
His club later confirmed that he had suffered a serious brain injury and was in an induced coma.
He underwent surgery on Tuesday, but passed away due to his injuries on Thursday.
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A statement via Vigar's family, posted by Chichester on social media, reads: "After suffering 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 (25th) 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 happened whilst he was playing the sport he loved."
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The cause of Vigar's death has not yet been stated by either club involved in the match.
Wingate & Finchley FC stated: "We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Billy Vigar. Our sincere condolences go out to Billy's family, and to our friends at Chichester City FC at this incredibly difficult."
Vigar came through the Arsenal academy, signing a professional contract with the Gunners in 2021.
After loan spells at Derby and Eastbourne Borough, he was released in the summer of 2024 and moved into semi-professional football, joining seventh-tier Isthmian League Premier Division side Chichester in August.
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There has been an outpouring of emotion and grief over Vigar's death - but also a significant amount of anger over the incident.
In November 2022, Bath City striker Alex Fletcher was critically injured and placed into intensive care after he struck concrete advertising hoardings during a home match.
After undergoing emergency neurosurgery, Fletcher was released from hospital. He returned to playing a year later with Weston Super-Mare but decided to retire the following summer, stating that there was 'something about my game that was missing'. He now works with the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA).
Fletcher has been left permanently deaf in his left ear due to the injury and has also admitted issues with balance, co-ordination and timing - all of which led to his retirement from playing.
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In April 2023, Fletcher called on improvements to be made to player safety, telling ITV: "Whenever I go to watch matches I get nervous when my team-mates are in the area where I was injured and I just really don't want anyone else to go through what I have in the last six months."
Concrete walls - or breeze blocks - still remain in place at a number of non-league grounds.
Now, Marc White, the owner and manager of National League South side Dorking Wanderers, has become the first leading figure at non-league level to publicly demand that concrete walls are outlawed in English football.
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"All clubs need the FA to instruct an immediate enquiry into pitch surrounds. Many are dangerous and players always have to be cautious given the proximity from the pitch," he wrote.
"But some simply do not move and are lethal. These need removing immediately."
SPORTbible have contacted the Football Association for comment.
He subsequently posted a link to a Change.org petition calling for the removal of concrete surroundings at all football venues across England.
The petition, which was set up shortly after Vigar's death was announced on Thursday evening, has already reached nearly 2,000 signatures at the time of writing.
Jack Mison, who created the petition, wrote: "We call on local councils, football associations, governing bodies and facility owners to immediately assess all football pitches for the presence of brick or concrete walls within the playing facilities, remove or replace these walls with safer alternatives (such as mesh fencing or padded railings) within a defined timeframe [and] introduce strict guidelines prohibiting the construction of new hard-surface barriers near active playing areas.
"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."