The wall which non-league footballer Billy Vigar struck – resulting in the former Arsenal striker tragically suffering a fatal injury – has been demolished.
Vigar, 21, passed away days after the incident, which happened during a match between Wingate and Finchley and Chichester City last month.
In the aftermath, the Football Association said it would carry out an immediate safety review of perimeter walls in the National League system.
However, officials at Wingate and Finchley have already taken action, Inside Sport understands. They have commissioned a series of works at their Maurice Rebak Stadium and have reversed all home fixtures until mid-November, when the improvements are due to be completed.
While the Isthmian League Premier League Division ground complied with current regulations, the decision to knock down the wall was taken immediately.
Vigar died on Thursday September 25 after suffering a ‘significant brain injury’ during the fixture on the previous Saturday. Tributes to the youngster were paid from across the football world, and included a message from current Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.
Chichester City forward Billy Vigar died at the age of just 21 after colliding into a concrete hoarding – the wall has now been demolished
A subsequent petition calling for a ban on brick walls around football pitches quickly received more than 4,000 signatures.
The FA set up an ‘immediate review’ which a spokesperson said would ‘include looking at ways we can assist National League system clubs to identify and implement additional measures at their stadiums that they determine will help to mitigate any potential safety risks’.
The Professional Footballers Association called for a full investigation and said players should ‘not be put at unnecessary and avoidable risk’.
Both the government and PFA wrote to the Premier League, the FA, the EFL and the National League in June 2023 calling for a more proactive approach to player safety after Bath City’s Alex Fletcher suffered a fractured skull when he struck a concrete advertising hoarding during a match in November 2022.
The Football Association’s decision to use dementia sufferers as mascots for England’s match with Wales has been widely lauded as part of a partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society. However, campaigner John Stiles, son of World Cup winner Nobby, hit out at what he believes is a clear display of double standards from the governing body.
‘I applaud the strength and courage of the Alzheimer’s patients who attended the England game and walked onto the pitch with the players,’ Stiles said.
‘I know what my dad went through in battling these dreadful diseases and I was moved to see the joy those heroes took from being with the England players. But this is the same FA that provided no support to the five heroes of 1966 who died due to neuro-degenerative diseases. It’s the same FA that does not contribute to the Premier League and PFA Brain Health Fund, an inadequate PR scam created to seek to camouflage this national disgrace by which ex-pros are abandoned by an industry rolling in cash.
’Stiles is part of Football Families for Justice, who are working with government to address what they say is the ‘national scandal’, following research that showed ex-footballers were around four times more likely than the general population to suffer from fatal brain diseases.
England players walked onto the pitch with mascots suffering with dementia against Wales
News that Olympic great Carl Lewis has endorsed India’s bid to host the 2036 Games is not a surprise as he is a serial bid endorser.
Mind you, India will be hoping he brings better luck than one of his first endorsements which was for Stockholm’s campaign to host the 2004 Games. The Swedish city lost out to Athens which was endorsed by Olympic sprint champion at the time, Donavan Bailey.
Olympic bidding can be a lucrative business; Inside Sport understands Bailey was paid $100k in ‘expenses’ for that endorsement. To be fair Lewis did, at least, endorse Tokyo’s 2020 bid.
The general assembly of the newly re-named European Football Clubs (EFC) threw up a couple of interesting travel lines. The first came on the night of the grand dinner. Everton owner Daniel Friedkin, whose group also controls Roma, arranged for the close to 1,000 delegates to dine at the famous Baths of Caracalla.
However, the American could do little to prevent a pro-Palestine march wreaking havoc with travel arrangements. Some on affected buses were late to the event from the event hotel, while others decided to get off and walk the couple of kilometres to the eye-catching venue.
Meanwhile, few could accuse Manchester City of largesse. Chief executive Ferran Soriano was spotted boarding a crowded Ryanair flight back to Manchester from the city’s second airport, Ciampino.
Ferran Soriano (right), pictured next to Man City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, recently flew back to the UK on Ryanair
Tim Percival, communications lead for the England rugby team, has written a book on how elite coaches master the media.
On the Record and on the Ball features some fascinating detail which includes an amusing and revealing anecdote from legendary former Sports Agenda editor Charles Sale.
Sale recalls being snubbed by then-England batsman Ian Bell when he told him that he had broken his father’s record as the youngest player to score a first-class hundred for Warwickshire, a record of which he was understandably proud.
‘He couldn’t have been less interested,’ said Sale. ‘So ever since then I’ve slated him on every possible occasion…’
