Pro soccer player dies at 21 after suffering a 'significant brain injury' in a game
Lucy Devine
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/David Price
British soccer player Billy Vigar has died at the age of 21, after suffering an injury during a match.
On Saturday (September 20), Vigar had been playing in a game between his team, Chichester City F.C. and Wingate & Finchley Football Club.
During the match, Vigar sustained a fatal injury.
Although not yet confirmed, it has been widely reported that Vigar collided with a concrete wall while trying to prevent the ball from crossing the touchline.
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“It is with great sadness that Chichester City Football Club has to confirm the passing of Billy Vigar. Below is a statement from his family,” the team wrote on X.
“We request that his family's privacy is respected at this most difficult time.”
The family statement read: "After sustaining a significant brain injury last Saturday, Billy Vigar was put into 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 loved and thought of within the sport. His family are devastated that this has happened while he was playing the sport that he loved."
Vigar was a graduate of the Arsenal academy and left the club in 2024.
A statement from Arsenal read: "Billy joined our academy on schoolboy terms aged 14, after being scouted at his hometown club Hove Rivervale FC and excelled as a striker at Hale End, scoring 17 goals in his debut season.
"In 2020, his performances earned him a scholarship and joined us full-time for the 2020-21 season, his intake including current players Charles Sagoe Jr, Remy Mitchell and others such as Omari Hutchinson, Charlie Patino and Brook Norton-Cuffy.
"Quick, powerful and fiercely determined, his first season as a scholar was blighted by a serious hamstring injury, but he made up for it in his second, scoring four goals in 18 under-18 appearances and signed professional terms for the club at the end of that 2021-22 season.
"Billy went on to appear for us in the PL2 and EFL Trophy and proved to be an asset across the forward positions and even deputised in defence – his versatility illustrating his commitment to the coaching staff and his team.
"As well as his significant talent, Billy will always be remembered for his love of the game, pride at representing our football club - he once called the day he was spotted by our scouts as 'the most important of his life' – and a character beloved by team-mates and coaches alike.
"Our deepest condolences go out to the Vigar family and his many friends at this extremely difficult time."
Meanwhile, the FA added: "We send our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, loved ones and everyone at Chichester City FC at this incredibly difficult time."
Following Vigar's death, the Professional Footballers' Association has called for a full investigation into what happened.
The British government as well as the PFA, wrote to the FA, the Premier League, the English Football League and the National League in June 2023, following a similar injury sustained by Bath City player Alex Fletcher, after he suffered a fractured skull when colliding with a concrete barrier.