FA Outlaws Solid Walls Around Football Pitches After Tragic Death
The Football Association has moved to outlaw solid perimeter walls around pitches across large parts of the English game, following the death of former Arsenal youth player Billy Vigar.
Vigar, 21, died after sustaining what was described as a “significant brain injury” while playing for Chichester City at Wingate and Finchley FC in September 2025. It is believed he collided with a concrete wall close to the pitch – a detail that has since cast a harsh light on long-accepted ground designs at non-elite levels.
That moment has now reshaped policy.
FA acts after safety review
After commissioning independent health and safety experts to conduct a review for the 2026-27 season, the FA has confirmed it will no longer allow solid brick, breeze block or concrete barriers around pitches across the National League system for men (steps 1-6) and the Women's National League (tiers 3-4).
The ruling is blunt. Those structures must go.
In a statement, the FA said any existing solid barriers “must be removed as soon as reasonably practicable, or covered with suitable protection if they cannot be removed for structural reasons”. Clubs at the affected levels have already been informed that they will be required to act.
This is not a cosmetic change. It alters the physical landscape of hundreds of grounds, many of them community hubs that have looked the same for decades.
Clubs given time – but not a free pass
Matches at affected venues will be allowed to continue, but only under clear conditions. Clubs must continually assess the safety of their pitch perimeter barriers and put in place realistic plans to remove or properly protect any solid walls “within a reasonable timeframe”.
So the turnstiles will keep clicking. Yet every club now operates under a ticking clock.
To ease the financial hit, the FA and the Premier League will provide funding to help deliver the changes. For lower-league and women’s clubs already working with tight budgets, that support will prove crucial. Without it, some might have faced an impossible choice between safety compliance and survival.
From tragedy to policy change
Vigar’s death did not fade into the background. A petition calling for a ban on brick walls around football pitches gathered more than 4,000 signatures, amplifying the voices of players, families and supporters who saw the incident as a preventable tragedy rather than a freak accident.
Pressure grew off the pitch as well. In June 2023, the government and the Professional Footballers’ Association wrote jointly to the FA, Premier League, English Football League and National League, urging a more proactive stance on player safety in this specific area.
That call has now translated into concrete action, stripping away a type of structure that has long felt out of step with the speed and physicality of the modern game.
The walls are coming down. The question now is how quickly football can rebuild its surroundings to match its duty of care.
