When, given a similar accident happened just three years previously, this death was foreseeable and preventable
What happened?
Chichester City striker Billy Vigar was playing in an away match against Wingate and Finchley when he crashed into a concrete wall around the perimeter of the pitch.
21 year-old Vigar suffered a fatal head injury.
Wingate & Finchley have since demolished a pitch-side concrete wall at the Maurice Rebak Stadium following Vigar’s death.
Legal Outcome
N/A
What can we learn from what happened?
This tragic accident is very recent, but the Football Association said it would carry out an immediate safety review of perimeter walls at football grounds in the National League in response to Vigar’s death.
Another case study in this month’s library covered the serious, potentially life-changing, head injury sustained by Bath City striker Alex Fletcher under very similar circumstances three years ago.
Fletcher expressed his frustration one year after his accident that the issue of perimeter walls and fences, and their proximity to the playing area, wasn’t being looked into. Sadly, his frustrations have been borne out by this tragic event.
The FA’s safety review will understandably take time, but it will be interesting to see what their conclusions and recommendations are if we are to avoid a repeat of what seems to be a foreseeable but preventable accident.
Source of Information
BBC Sport Online – note the name of the victim and the football clubs concerned have been included as this story was extensively reported in the media.