‘Entirely preventable’ – Former footballer Alex Fletcher has been left frustrated at the FA not listening to him after his own wall collision.
21 year old Billy Vigar passed away last Thursday after sustaining a “significant brain injury” while playing for Chichester City in the Isthmian League Premier Division fixture at Wingate & Finchley the previous Saturday.
Alex Fletcher, a former Bath City striker, announced his retirement from playing football less than two years after the ex-Plymouth Argyle youth product collided with concrete advertising hoardings barriers at Twerton Park mid game in November 2022.
Alex Fletcher, who suffered near fatal head injury, releases emotional video as he retires aged 25
He was placed in a coma and had major surgery to remove part of his skull recovery, unable to play football having spent 10 months of recovery before returning to the pitch in August 2023, and signed for Weston-super-Mare back in November 2023, but the Southern League outfit announced in July 2024 that the striker had decided to retire age 25.
Fletcher is permanently deaf in his left ear and suffers from vertigo. But this incident brought all the memories back for him, expressing his sympathy to Chichester City and Vigar’s family at this tough time.
The retired footballer this week bravely spoke to BBC Breakfast about the death of 21 year old Billy Vigar who sadly died after he collided with a concrete wall by the pitch during a non league game.
Billy passed away on Thursday after sustaining a “significant brain injury” while playing for Chichester City in the Isthmian League Premier Division fixture at Wingate & Finchley the previous Saturday.
The now 26-year-old is now part of brain health department within the Professional Footballers’ Association to advocate for enhanced player safety in football stadiums.
‘The calls for change haven’t been listed to’
Former footballer Alex Fletcher, who was seriously injured after crashing into advertising hoardings, spoke to #BBCBreakfast about the death of Billy Vigar who is believed to have collided with a concrete wall by the pitch during a… pic.twitter.com/hEW3nPnYub
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) September 30, 2025
“This was an entirely preventable situation,” Fletcher told BBC Breakfast.
“It brought a lot of emotions flooding back for me but my overriding emotion was frustration that the calls for change haven’t been listened to by the FA. I’m afraid this isn’t going to be the last, if serious action isn’t taken.
“I think it’s too little, too late.
“I think if you asked Billy’s family they would say, is it going to bring their son back?
“It’s something that needs to happen urgently because there are hundreds of football matches being played across the country at all levels where this kind of incident could occur again.
“It’s billed as a freak accident [but] it’s an accident waiting to happen, quite frankly.
“The FA need to get hold of it quickly to ensure that another incident such as this doesn’t happen again.
“This, I think, was an entirely preventable situation. What’s happened to Billy is absolutely tragic and I can only imagine the pain and suffering that it has caused those associated with Chichester City and his family.
“I know firsthand the pain and suffering that my family went through following my incident, made even more painful by the fact that it could have been prevented.”
After the football world called on the Football Association to make changes, they said it will carry out an immediate safety review of perimeter walls at football grounds in the National League system following Vigar’s death.
“This will 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,” their statement said.
Calls for FA to “step up” and create a fund to help Non-League clubs make grounds safer.
“If things don’t change there’ll be another death.”
More from @sholingfc Manager Paul Doswell ⬇️https://t.co/w2Jdinvjgu#BillyVigar #NonLeague @BBCSport
— Lewis Coombes (@LewisCoombes) October 1, 2025
Meanwhile, Sholing’s Paul Doswell said he couldn’t “forgive” the FA for not launching a review earlier after the incident to Alex Fletcher.
“Lots of other clubs have got old brick or concrete walls within the perimeters of their grounds and it is a major, major problem,” he said, per BBC Sport.
“If things don’t change there’ll be another death.”
Doswell added the FA needed to “step up to the plate” and put a “massive fund together” so that other clubs can get money to make their grounds safer.
“It’s time for someone to accept that this has to be done, because if there’s another death, I don’t really know where that leaves anybody in football,” he said.
“You can’t have people dying on the football pitch.”
Sholing moved their home fixture against Eastbourne Borough to AFC Portchester at the weekend after a perimeter fence was short of 20cm too close to the pitch.
We’ve also seen Isthmian League Premier Division side Welling United say that a brick wall next to their pitch “presents a significant risk”.
‘Vigar’s Law’ petition launched to ban brick walls around football pitches after player’s death
