The Football Association (FA) has moved to ban solid perimeter walls around pitches for good, following a campaign by the Daily Star Sunday after the death of former Arsenal youth player Billy Vigar.
Billy, 21, died in September 2025 after sustaining a “significant brain injury” while playing for Chichester City at Wingate and Finchley FC. He collided with a concrete barrier while trying to keep a ball in play during an away match.
Family and friends overwhelmed
On Friday, family and friends close to Billy were left overwhelmed after the FA announced the ban. A source close to the family said: “This is bittersweet. This should have been in place before but at least now it is. It has broken all of us locally and everyone remains affected to this day. It must never happen again.”
Clubs in the National League system, from step 1 to step 6, must now remove brick or concrete walls around pitches or use padding to cover them, according to an announcement made on Thursday. The FA has published new pitch perimeter criteria which “no longer permits solid brick, breeze block or concrete barriers around pitches” for clubs competing across the National League system for men (steps 1-6) and the Women’s National League (tiers 3-4).
Support from local clubs
Other clubs local to the area where Billy died have spoken in support of the campaign and welcomed the change. Chairman of Wick Football Club, Matt Lander, said: “Football is a game for the community and the community was heartbroken at what happened, for this to happen anywhere is a tragedy. I’m glad the FA have listened to the Daily Star Sunday and to other campaigners and have taken these measures to keep players safe. No one should go to play a football game and not come home.”
The FA’s safety review was prompted by Billy’s death. The new guidance reads: “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.”
Funding and impact
The Daily Star Sunday understands that of the approximately 900 clubs that play at the relevant levels, around 160 have been contacted so far regarding at least one element of their stadium which must be modified. The FA and Premier League will provide funding to facilitate the changes.
After Vigar’s death, a petition calling for a ban on brick walls around football pitches has received more than 4,000 signatures. The government and the Professional Footballers’ Association wrote to the FA, Premier League, English Football League and National League in June 2023, calling on them to adopt a more proactive approach to player safety in this area. That came after Bath City’s Alex Fletcher suffered a fractured skull after colliding with a concrete advertising hoarding during a match in November 2022.
