Ex-Arsenal star Billy Vigar dies after horror collision with concrete wall throughout match
Former Arsenal academy star and Chichester City forward Billy Vigar has tragically died.
The 21-year-old suffered a ‘significant brain injury’ after colliding with a concrete wall. Vigar was playing for Isthmian Premier League club Chichester against Wingate & Finchley on Saturday when his head hit the wall around the outside of the pitch.
The game was immediately stopped and later abandoned as an ambulance arrived on the scene, before he was rushed to hospital, where he was placed in an induced coma. His current club along with Arsenal, team-mates past and present, and fans wished him a speedy recovery, with the Premier League side sending “love and support to Billy and his loved ones at this difficult time”.
But Chichester today confirmed the desperately sad news on X, in a statement that 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 (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 has happened whilst he was playing the sport that he loved.”
(Image: Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Chichester’s game against Lewes on Saturday has been postponed.
Vigar was part of Arsenal’s U21 side until last season, playing in the U18 Premier League and Premier League 2. He also featured as a late substitute in the 2-0 EFL Trophy defeat away at Ipswich. He joined Arsenal in 2017 at the age of 14 and signed his first professional contract at the Emirates in July 2022.
The forward spent time on loan at Derby County’s U21s and National League South side Eastbourne Borough. He later joined then-seventh-tier side Hastings United before making the switch to Oaklands Park in the summer.
More to follow…
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