Brain injury in football – how should this be addressed?

by | Oct 2, 2025

Brain injury in football is more common than we would like. Sadly, we recently received the news of a footballer passing away. The accident occurred during a match on 25th September at Wingate and Finchley Stadium.

Billy Vigar played for Chichester City in the Isthmian League Premier Division and reportedly collided with a concrete wall.

Unfortunately, the placement of some kind of a solid block near the playing area is common at amateur and semi-professional grounds. Oftentimes, the barriers are built dangerously close to the field. 

Wingate and Finchley stadium

Wingate and Finchley Stadium

 

Almost instantly, fans on social media began to question ground regulations and how this issue is being managed. It isn’t the first time an accident like this has happened, and fans and players have raised these questions before.

An online petition calling for the removal of brick walls around football pitches has already gained more than 15,000 signatures at the time of this publication. 

Brain injury in football isn’t new 

In 2022, Bath City’s Alex Fletcher collided with concrete blocks in a similar incident in the National League South.

A year after sustaining a serious head injury, he told BBC Points West: “If I had lost my life I feel like more would have been done,” criticising the lack of action that followed his accident. 

Alex Fletcher Brain Health

Alex Fletcher. Photo credits: Phil Mingo/PPAUK

 

In the same year, paramedics sent Macauley Southam-Hales to the hospital after he collided with an advertising hoarding in the FA Cup. Thankfully, he was not seriously injured and the hospital discharged him soon afterwards.

And the list of accidents goes on if you look into social media warnings in non-league levels and even in youth matches.  

 

What needs to change? 

Our work at Headway Thames Valley focuses not only on supporting people to live life after brain injury, but also on prevention. For example, through initiatives like our workshop for schools, we highlight the importance of brain health and safety.  

When it comes to football, preventing solid structures from being built so close to the pitch seems like a simple, practical adaptation. Better still, they should not be built in the first place. 

In response, the FA released a statement saying it will work with leagues, clubs and relevant stakeholders to review the safety of perimeter walls and boundaries around pitches in the National League System.  

FA to review the safety of perimeters at NLS pitches

FA to review the safety of perimeters at NLS pitches

 

Football involves a lot of money, especially from advertising displayed on these walls. Redirecting some of this investment into safety measures could prevent more tragedies.

We hope Billy Vigar’s loss is the last of its kind and that authorities take action soon. Football must continue to be a place of passion, joy and community, without the risk of avoidable, life-threatening injuries.