Chichester City FC and former Arsenal academy striker Billy Vigar has died after sustaining a “significant brain injury”.
Vigar, 21 and born in Worthing, was injured during a game at Wingate and Finchley on Saturday in the Isthmian League Premier Division.
It is thought the injury was caused when he collided with a concrete wall, but the club has not confirmed this.
Vigar’s family said on Thursday they were “devastated that this has happened while he was playing the sport he loved”.
“After sustaining a significant brain injury last Saturday, Billy Vigar was put into an induced coma,” the family said.
“On Tuesday, he needed an operation to aid any chances of recovery. Although this helped, the injury proved too much for him and he passed away on Thursday morning.
“The responses to the original update show how much Billy was loved and thought of within the sport.”
Vigar was a graduate of the Arsenal academy, leaving the club in 2024, and also had spells at Derby County, Eastbourne Borough and Hastings United.
A statement from Arsenal said everyone at the club was “deeply sorry” to hear of his death.
“Billy joined our academy on schoolboy terms aged 14, after being scouted at his hometown club Hove Rivervale FC and excelled as a striker at Hale End, scoring 17 goals in his debut season,” the club said.
“In 2020, his performances earned him a scholarship and joined us full-time for the 2020-21 season, his intake including current players Charles Sagoe Jr, Remy Mitchell and others such as Omari Hutchinson, Charlie Patino and Brook Norton-Cuffy.
“Quick, powerful and fiercely determined, his first season as a scholar was blighted by a serious hamstring injury, but he made up for it in his second, scoring four goals in 18 under-18 appearances and signed professional terms for the club at the end of that 2021-22 season.
“Billy went on to appear for us in the PL2 and EFL Trophy and proved to be an asset across the forward positions and even deputised in defence – his versatility illustrating his commitment to the coaching staff and his team.
“As well as his significant talent, Billy will always be remembered for his love of the game, pride at representing our football club – he once called the day he was spotted by our scouts as ‘the most important of his life’ – and a character beloved by team-mates and coaches alike.
BBC
