The Football Association (FA) has announced that solid walls around the perimeter of pitches have been banned following the tragic death of Billy Vigar. The former Arsenal youth player died from a head injury after colliding with a wall last season.
What happened
The incident occurred while Vigar was playing for Chichester City against Wingate & Finchley FC in September. The 21-year-old collided with a concrete wall surrounding the pitch, resulting in a significant brain injury.
Vigar was part of Arsenal's youth sides before moving to Hastings United in 2024. He signed with Chichester City last summer, a few months before his death.
FA review and changes
The wall at Wingate & Finchley FC has now been removed, with the FA confirming a review of pitch surroundings for non-league grounds. The findings of the review have now been released.
It has been confirmed that the FA "no longer permits solid brick, breeze block or concrete barriers around pitches across the National League system for men [steps 1-6], and the Women's National League [tiers 3-4]".
In a statement, the FA added: "Any existing solid brick, breeze block or concrete barriers must be removed as soon as reasonably practicable, or covered with suitable protection if they cannot be removed for structural reasons. We have informed the clubs at this level that will be required to take action as a result of these changes."
"Matches may continue to be played at affected grounds during this period; however, clubs should assess the safety of their pitch perimeter barriers on an ongoing basis, and where alterations to these structures have been recommended during this review, they should develop a plan to complete any such alterations within a reasonable timeframe."
Support and reaction
Non-league clubs will be helped with funding the changes, with money coming from both the FA and the Premier League. The Press Association reports that 160 of the 900 clubs who play at these levels have been contacted over changes that will have to be made to their stadiums.
The FA added: "The initial phase of the programme is already underway, and we will continue to provide full support to the clubs involved in this process."
Following the announcement, a PFA spokesperson said: "Following the tragic death of Billy Vigar last year, we again highlighted these concerns and made clear our view that the lack of progress and leadership on this issue had been unacceptable.
"As part of working groups set up by the FA following Billy's death, we pushed for the FA's Stadium Accreditation criteria to be amended to ban these types of walls so that there is a clear and centralised policy for clubs to follow.
"Given that, it's a welcome step that the FA's regulations have now been changed to reflect that position.
"However, it will now be important for progress on the removal of such walls - and effective mitigation of risks ahead of their removal - to be properly monitored, and for clubs to be given the support they need so that these changes can happen as soon as possible. Player safety must always come first."
