List of footballers who died while playing

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The following is a list of football players who have died whilst playing a game, or died from injuries sustained while playing. Following an increase in deaths recently, both during matches and training, FIFA announced on 31 August 2007 that they were considering introducing cardiac testing ^[1]

Date	Name	Team	Notes
January 13, 1889	William Cropper	Staveley	Suffered a ruptured bowel in a match for against Grimsby Town; died the next day.
January 11, 1892	James "Daddy" Dunlop	St Mirren	In a friendly against Abercorn, he fell on a piece of glass which led to tetanus setting in; he died ten days later at the age of 21.^[2]
May 25, 1896	James Logan	Newton Heath	Pneumonia relapse caught while playing.
November 29, 1896	Joe Powell	Woolwich Arsenal	Blood poisoning and tetanus after breaking his arm against Kettering Town in 1896.
1900s	James Collins	Sheppey United	Tetanus caused by on-field injury.^[3]
1902	Di Jones	Manchester City	A gash to the knee turned septic, resulting in his death.^[4]
April, 1907	Thomas Blackstock	Manchester United	Collapsed after heading a ball in a game against St. Helens and died.^[5]
1908	Frank Levick	Sheffield United	^[6]
1909	James Milne	Hibernian	A goalkeeper that died of internal injuries following a collision at the feet of a striker.^[7]
February 19, 1916	Bob Benson	Arsenal	Died of a burst blood vessel following a wartime game against Reading.
January 7, 1921	Horace Fairhurst	Blackpool	Suffered a head injury in a league game at Barnsley in December 1920; died as a result of his injury early in the new year.
1923	Tom Butler	Port Vale	^[8]
April 4, 1927	Albert Van Coile	Cercle Brugge	Suffered a perforated bowel after a collision with an opponent. Died one day later.
May, 1927	Sam Wynne	Bury	Collapsed and died on the field of pneumonia during a match against Sheffield United, although Bury claim it was a cerebral hemorrhage.^[9]
September 5, 1931	John Thomson	Celtic	Injured during an Old Firm when he dived for the ball and suffered a fractured skull in an accidental collision with Rangers' Sam English, and died that same evening at the age of 22.
1934	Sim Raleigh	Gillingham	Died after a clash of heads with Brighton & Hove Albion's Paul Mooney in a game, who subsequently retired.
February 5, 1936	Jimmy Thorpe	Sunderland	A diabetic, the goalkeeper collapsed into a coma from which he never recovered, attributed to the rough treatment he received on the pitch.
July 14, 1963	Constantin Tabarcea	Petrolul Ploieşti	Collapsed during a match. Death attributed to the unusual activity of the timus gland.^[10]
March 16, 1969	Giuliano Taccola	A.S. Roma	Suffered a heart attack due to pneumonia.^[11]
December 16, 1973	Pavão	F.C. Porto	Collapsed and died of a heart attack during a league game.^[12]
August 27, 1977	Michel Soulier	Union Royale Namur	Cardiac arrest.^[13]
October 30, 1977	Renato Curi	Perugia	Suffered a heart attack while playing in a Serie A match against Juventus. Perugia's ground is named after him.
April 12, 1979	Mohamed Ali Akid	Club Sportif Sfaxien	Struck by lightning during a training session.^[14]
April 18, 1979	Marcel Wassmer	Sochaux	Ruptured aneurysm during training.^[15]
1980	Gérard Grégoire	US Tavaux Damparis	Collapsed at the end of training.^[16]
May 21, 1980	Omar Sahnoun	Girondins de Bordeaux	Died of a heart attack during training.
September 23, 1984	Erik Jongbloed	DWS Amsterdam	Struck by lightning during an exhibition game.^[17]
1987	Olivier Petit	Arques	Collapsed due to a blod clot of the brain and died.^[18]
August 23, 1987	Paulo Navalho	Atlético Clube de Portugal	Suffered an acute myocardial infarction during a friendly match between Atletico and the U.A.E.'s Al-Jazira Club.^[19]
August 12, 1989	Samuel Okwaraji	Nigeria	Collapsed and died while playing against Angola in a World Cup Qualifier. An autopsy showed that the 24-year-old had an enlarged heart and high blood pressure.
September 8, 1990	David Longhurst	York City	Suffered a heart attack on the pitch while playing against Lincoln. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
February 2, 1993	Michael Klein	Bayer Uerdingen	Suffered a heart attack during a training session.
1995	Mistar		Trampled to death by a herd of pigs that stormed the pitch. His team were warming up for a forthcoming game.^[20]
March 23, 1995	Davie Cooper	Clydebank	Brain haemorrhage incurred while filming a training video for children.
October 29, 1995	Amir Angwe	Julius Berger F.C.	Collapsed and died on the pitch of a heart attack.^[21]
1997	Tunde Charity	Bendel Insurance	Died of a head injury sustained on the playing field.^[22]
April 4, 1997	Waheeb Jabarra	Hapoel Taibe	Israeli midfielder, suffered a heart attack on the pitch while playing against Bnei Yehuda.
August 30, 1997	Emmanuel Nwanegbo	SSV Reutlingen	Heart failure.^[23]
November 30, 1997	Shamo Quaye	Umeå FC	Died while training with his team.
1998	Markus Paßlack	Fortuna Dusseldorf	Heart failure.
April 24, 1998	Axel Jüptner	FC Carl Zeiss Jena	Heart attack during training.
February 18, 1998	Robbie James	Llanelli	Heart attack.
1999	Ferenc Biro	Nirajul Miercurea-Nir.	Died after a crossbar fell on his head during a warmup. ^[24]
1999	Gabriel Talpoş	Minerul Rodna	Died after smashing his head on a concrete wall surrounding the football pitch during training.^[25]
July 24, 1999	Stefan Vrăbioru	SC Astra Ploieşti	Undetected heart defect that led to him collapsing.^[26]
2000	Daniel Orbeanu	Caraimanul Buşteni	Died after an infection from a simple sprain, misdiagnosed by four different hospitals.^[27]
February, 2000	John Ikoroma	Al-Wahda	Collapsed on the pitch and later died in hospital.^[28]
April 2, 2000	Eri Irianto	Persebaya Surabaya	Died in hospital due to heart failure after a game between Persebaya and PSIM Yogyakarta.^[29]
May 21, 2000	Hocine Gacemi	JS Kabylie	Died from a fractured skull after clash of heads.^[30]
October 5, 2000	Catalin Hîldan	Dinamo Bucharest	Died while playing for Dinamo; the North Stand of Dinamo's stadium is named in his honour.
December 26, 2000	Paulo Sergio		Cardiac arrest
August 29, 2001	Serhiy Perkhun	CSKA Moscow	Suffered injury in a collision with Budun Budunov who also sustained serious head trauma. He suffered a brain hemorrhage and died eight days later.
2002	Ioan Alb	Jiul Petroşani	Fell ill during a training session. Was taken to hospital and diagnosed with 3rd degree cerebral comotion. Died three days later.^[31]
2002	Michael Michael		Collapsed on the field, and after belatedly being taken to hospital was pronounced dead on arrival.^[32]
2002	Cristian Neamţu	Universitatea Craiova	Accidentally struck in the mandible by a teammate charging towards goal. Internal bleeding was discovered, before he died one week later.^[33]
February 17, 2002	Landu Ndonbasi	Oliveira de Frades	Cardiac arrest.^[34]
October 24, 2002	Hernán Gaviria	Deportivo Cali	Hit by a bolt of lightning during a training session and was killed instantly.
October 27, 2002	Giovanni Córdoba	Deportivo Cali	During the same training session as Gaviria, Córdoba was hit by a bolt of lightning and died three days later due to his injuries.^[35]
December, 2002	Stefan Toleski	FK Napredok	Collapsed during a match and later died in hospital.^[36]
June 26, 2003	Marc-Vivien Foé	Cameroon	Collapsed while playing in the FIFA Confederations Cup semifinal between his country and Colombia, and died shortly afterward in hospital. An autopsy later revealed the cause of death was a heart attack caused by an enlarged right ventricle.
July, 2003	Max Ferreira	Botafogo	Felt unwell while training and later died in hospital.^[37]
January 25, 2004	Miklós Fehér	SL Benfica	Died while playing against Vitoria of cardiac arrhythmia brought on by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
February 29, 2004	Danny Ortiz	CSD Municipal	During a match against CSD Comunicaciones, Ortiz collided with Mario Rafael Rodríguez, suffering from a torn pericardium and would die later in hospital.
February 29, 2004	Andrej Pawitskij	Arsenal Kiev	Suffered a heart attack during training.^[38]
May 15, 2004	Bruno Baião	SL Benfica	Collapsed and suffered a heart attack during training, and died four days later having been in a coma.^[39]
October 27, 2004	Serginho	São Caetano	Died of a heart attack while playing against São Paulo.
December 5, 2004	Cristiano Junior	Dempo Sports Club	Collided with Mohun Bagan goalkeeper Subrata Paul in the 78th minute of the Federation Cup finals while scoring his second goal. He staggered away, then collapsed. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful and he was dead on arrival at Hosmat Hospital.
2005	Alin Paicu	Minerul Mătăsari	Collapsed after heading a ball. Died of a heart attack.^[40]
January 9, 2005	Suad Katana	Lokeren	Died of the effects of a cardiac arrest.^[41]
February 7, 2005	Nedzad Botonjic	Ljubljana	Suffered a heart attack during training.^[42]
April 12, 2005	Paul Sykes	Folkestone Invicta	Collapsed on the pitch 30 minutes into the game against Margate F.C. in the Kent Senior Cup Semi-Final. An undiagnosed heart-defect was identified as the cause of his death.^[43]
June 25, 2005	Hugo Cunha	Uniao Leiria	Heart failure.^[44]
July 8, 2005	Craig Gowans	Falkirk F.C.	Electrocuted when the poll he was carrying to the training ground made contact with overhead power lines. ^[45]
April 11, 2006	Victor Alfonso Guerrero	Envigado	Collapsed during a training session and died on the way to hospital.^[46]
August 31, 2006	Mohamed Abdelwahab	Ahly	Collapsed during morning training session. He was rushed to hospital, but he died before he could be revived. According to Egyptian doctors the cause of Abdelwhab's death was a heart defect.
September 9, 2006	Matt Gadsby	Hinckley United	Collapsed on the pitch during a Conference North game against Harrogate Town and died soon afterwards in Harrogate District Hospital. Medical tests revealed he died from a heart condition known as Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy. ^[47]
December 15, 2006	Alessio Ferramosca	Juventus F.C. Youth Sector	Drowned during training while retrieving footballs from an artificial lake at the club's training ground.^[48]
December 15, 2006	Riccardo Neri	Juventus F.C. Youth Sector	Drowned during training while retrieving footballs from an artificial lake at the club's training ground.^[49]
March 27, 2007	Ivan Karacic	NK Siroki Brijeg	Suffered a heart attack and died during a training match in Siroki Brijeg, Bosnia and Herzegovina.^[50]
August 28, 2007	Antonio Puerta	Sevilla FC	Died on of multiple organ failure, stemming from prolonged cardiac arrest, three days after suffering from several heart attacks during a league game against Getafe CF.^[51]
August 29, 2007	Chaswe Nsofwa	Hapoel Beersheba	Died from sudden heart failure during a training match against Maccabi Beersheba.
December 29, 2007	Phil O'Donnell	Motherwell	Collapsed during his team's 5-3 win against Dundee United with what was later confirmed as a seizure. He died on the way to hospital.^[52]
February 9, 2008	Guy Tchingoma	FC 105 Libreville	Died shortly after a league game against Union Sportive O'Mbila. During the match he collided with an opponent. He managed to finish the game, but collapsed after it and medical were unable to revive him.^[53]
February 16, 2008	Hervé King	Ringmer F.C.	Collapsed 17 minutes into a game against Three Bridges F.C..^[54]
April 3, 2008	Hrvoje Ćustić	NK Zadar	Collided with a concrete wall during a game against Cibalia and died in hospital 5 days later of severe head injuries^[55]