Players safety call sparked by tragedy

PLAYERS should have the right to expect they are not being “put at unnecessary or avoidable risk’, the Professional Footballers’ Association has said following the death of former Arsenal youth player Billy Vigar.

- By JAMIE GARDNER

Mabeta Molango

The 21-year-old’s club, Chichester, confirmed on Thursday that the player had died after suffering a significant brain injury during a match.

Vigar collided with a concrete wall during last Saturday's match at Wingate and Finchley as he tried to keep the ball in play. He was taken to hospital and placed in an induced coma.

The Government and the PFA wrote to the chief executives of the Football Association, the Premier League, the EFL and the National League in June 2023 calling on them to adopt a more proactive approach to player safety in this area, after Bath City’s Alex Fletcher suffered a fractured skull after colliding with an advertising board reinforced with concrete blocks in a match in November 2022.

The PFA’s chief executive Maheta Molango said it was vital to ensure “opportunities to make grounds safer for players have not been missed”.

“Clearly there needs to be a formal investigation into the incident that has led to Billy Vigar's tragic death, and it is right that this is allowed to take place so that the full circumstances can be properly established,” he said.