Football Association Bans Solid Walls Around Pitches
The Football Association has moved to outlaw solid perimeter walls around pitches across large swathes of the English game, following the death of former Arsenal youth player Billy Vigar.
Vigar, 21, died after suffering 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 playing area. His death triggered a safety review that has now reshaped regulations from the National League down.
Concrete walls consigned to the past
After commissioning independent health and safety experts to examine the issue for the 2026-27 season, the FA has ruled that solid brick, breeze block or concrete barriers will no longer be allowed around pitches across the men’s National League system (steps 1-6) and the Women’s National League (tiers 3-4).
The wording is stark and leaves little room for ambiguity: the review “no longer permits solid brick, breeze block or concrete barriers around pitches” at those levels.
The FA has gone further in its formal statement, instructing clubs that any existing solid walls “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 notified they will be required to act.
This is not a cosmetic change. It is a fundamental shift in how lower-league grounds are allowed to frame the pitch.
Clubs given time – but not a free pass
Matches at grounds with solid perimeter structures will not be halted overnight. The FA has allowed games to continue, provided clubs continuously assess the safety of their pitchside barriers and demonstrate clear plans to alter or protect them “within a reasonable timeframe”.
The message is clear: the clock is ticking. Clubs must move from intention to implementation.
To ease the financial burden, the FA and the Premier League will provide funding to help facilitate the changes. For many semi-professional and smaller clubs, where concrete walls have doubled as crowd barriers and boundary markers for decades, that support will be crucial.
Tragedy, pressure and a long-awaited response
Vigar’s death did not occur in isolation. It became a rallying point.
A petition calling for a ban on brick walls around football pitches gathered more than 4,000 signatures, reflecting a growing sense that the game had lagged behind modern safety standards in this specific area. The sight of hard, immovable walls just yards from the touchline suddenly felt not just old-fashioned, but indefensible.
Political and union pressure followed. In June 2023, the government and the Professional Footballers’ Association jointly wrote to the FA, Premier League, English Football League and National League, urging them to adopt a more proactive stance on player safety around pitch perimeters.
That call has now produced its most concrete outcome yet: the end of solid walls in the country’s key non-elite divisions.
The change arrives too late for Billy Vigar. For the players who will sprint, slide and collide around those pitches in seasons to come, it may prove decisive.
