'FA review should have happened before Vigar death'

Paul Doswell said he could not "forgive" the FA for not launching a safety review of pitches earlier

A football club manager has said it should not have taken the death of a player for safety changes to be made to pitches.

Chichester City player Billy Vigar, 21, died on Thursday from a "significant brain injury" while playing an away match at Wingate and Finchley FC a few days earlier.

The Football Association (FA) has since said all pitch perimeter walls and fences will be looked at in the National League System after it was believed his injuries were caused by him hitting a concrete wall, although this has not been confirmed.

But Sholing's Paul Doswell said he could not "forgive" the FA for not launching a review earlier following a similar incident involving Bath City striker 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.

"If things don't change there'll be another death."

Mr 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."

Former Arsenal youth player Billy Vigar died on Thursday from a "significant brain injury" which occurred during a game

Mr Fletcher suffered a serious head injury after crashing into concrete advertising hoardings during a game between Bath City and Dulwich Hamlet in 2022.

He did not play for 10 months and went on to retire from football at the age of 25.

He told BBC Breakfast on Monday that Mr Vigar's death was "an entirely preventable situation".

"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," he added.

Meanwhile, Sholing had to move their home game against Eastbourne to nearby AFC Portchester on Saturday after a perimeter fence was found to be just short of 20cm too close to the pitch.

And other teams like Welling United have also now acknowledged that a brick wall next to their pitch "presents a significant risk".

The FA said it will now carry out an "immediate review, working with leagues, clubs and relevant stakeholders across the game, that will focus on the safety of perimeter walls and boundaries around pitches in the National League system".

A petition calling for a ban on brick walls around football pitches has also received more than 4,000 signatures.