Ex-Arsenal academy prospect Billy Vigar dies after collision with pitchside wall; calls for 'Vigar's Law' grow as club official receives threats

Billy Vigar, a 21-year-old former Arsenal academy prospect, died Thursday after suffering a significant brain injury when he collided with a concrete perimeter wall during an Isthmian League Premier Division match between Chichester City and Wingate & Finchley last Saturday.

Vigar was placed in an induced coma after the collision and underwent an operation on Tuesday in a bid to recover, but the injury proved too much. The incident occurred after 13 minutes when he was attempting to prevent the ball from crossing the touchline. The match was abandoned after an air ambulance arrived to treat him.

Tributes poured in from across football, including Arsenal, with a petition starting to urge a new regulation, or Vigar's Law, to require clubs to remove brick walls near touchlines. The petition had more than 5,600 signatures. Vigar joined Arsenal's Hale End academy at 14 and featured for the club's Under-18 and Under-21 sides before leaving in the summer of 2024. Daily Mail Sport understands that current Arsenal academy players who played with Vigar have been left shaken.

A senior Wingate & Finchley official, speaking to Daily Mail Sport on condition of anonymity, said he has received death threats and feels under threat; his son has also received threats. The club issued a statement expressing mourning and noting the impact of the tragedy on the community and on players connected to the club.

Neighbours described the chaotic scenes around the ground on the day of the incident, with three ambulances, a police car and an air ambulance arriving. Barnet hospital is just down the road, and a nearby rugby match on an adjacent pitch continued as authorities tended to the scene.