Arsenal academy Billy Vigar in induced coma after brain injury

Billy Vigar, a 21 year old forward who came through Arsenal's academy, has been placed in an induced coma after sustaining a serious brain injury during Chichester City's Isthmian League Premier Division match at Wingate and Finchley on Saturday, the club said. Chichester City said the player is in intensive care receiving "the best possible treatment" and warned that "it is too early to say what the outcome will be" while adding that even with a positive recovery there will be "a long road" ahead.

Chichester said the incident occurred during the first half and that play was stopped immediately. The club posted on social media that Vigar had received a "significant brain injury" and that he was being treated in intensive care. Local reports and witnesses described Vigar sliding to keep the ball in play before his forehead made forceful contact with a concrete wall bordering the pitch. The club has not confirmed the exact mechanism of injury, and accounts vary on some details, including whether an air ambulance was used and whether the match was abandoned after 10 or 13 minutes.

According to multiple local accounts, paramedics arrived quickly and an ambulance took Vigar to...