Maurice Rebak Stadium Vince Taylor pays a visit to Wingate & Finchley
Match action at Maurice Rebak Stadium( November 2025) Photos: Vince Taylor
Wingate & Finchley’ s Maurice Rebak Stadium was thrust into the headlines in September of last year when tragedy struck at the North London ground. During an Isthmian League fixture against Chichester City, an opposition player, Billy Vigar, reportedly collided with a perimeter wall and died five days later in hospital. It followed a similar incident at Bath City’ s Twerton Park in 2024, when Bath City player Alex Fletcher suffered a near fatal head injury when he came into contact with a concrete barrier. These events have sparked a debate about the safety of pitch surrounds, and what steps should be taken to address the issue.
With all those associated with Wingate & Finchley in a state of shock, it was eight weeks before football resumed at the venue, a period in which the barrier around
The new pitch surround the pitch, a combination of concrete blocks and metal railings, was removed. In its place a 1.1-metre-high rebound mesh fence has been installed, a UPVC covered metal construction which offers a degree of flex. Fences of this type have become standard issue at new and renovated grounds, and it is expected that the Football Association will push to make fences such as these mandatory, while also insisting on wider runoffs between barriers and the touchline.
Though the present Wingate & Finchley FC was created in 1991 following the merger of Finchley( formed in 1874) and Wingate( formed in 1946), the Maurice Rebak Stadium itself is just four years shy of its century, having been opened in 1930. Prior to then, Finchley had played at a variety of pitches in the district before establishing a more permanent
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