Pre-inquest opens into death of ex-Arsenal player Billy Vigar

A coroner has warned the family of footballer Billy Vigar, who died after colliding with a concrete wall during a match, that the inquest into his death “will not be a short process”.

Vigar, a former Arsenal youth striker who played for Chichester City, died in September aged 21, five days after he collided with a wall while trying to keep a ball in play at Wingate & Finchley FC, London.

A pre-inquest review at Barnet Coroner’s Court on Tuesday heard investigations by the Metropolitan Police and Barnet Council into the incident were still under way.

Senior coroner Andrew Walker asked the Met to ensure “the nature of the contact between the two players involved” was covered in its investigation.

He also offered his “deepest condolences” to Vigar’s family.

Obi Oranu, service manager for commercial environmental health at the council, said he had been looking at breaches of health and safety at the club.

When asked by the coroner what steps had been taken by the club to ensure the ground was safe, he said the concrete perimeter wall had been removed.

Det Supt Colin Chandler, from the Met, estimated his investigation would take no more than four to six weeks, but would depend on “the forthcoming of the [Football Association]”.

Ben Wright, from the Professional Footballers’ Association, told the hearing his union was also investigating the circumstances around Vigar’s death.

He said concrete walls around pitches was “an issue of player safety for our wider membership” and one his union had been working to resolve “for a number of years”.

At the end of the hearing, Mr Walker once again expressed his sympathies to Vigar’s family, but added: “This is not going to be a short process.”