Saturday’s Premier League match between Luton Town and Bournemouth was abandoned in the 65th minute with the score tied 1-1 after Luton Town’s captain, Tom Lockyer, collapsed on the pitch.
According to the team, Lockyer suffered cardiac arrest but was responsive by the time he was carried off on a stretcher. He is stable at a local hospital and undergoing further testing with his family by his side.
Lockyer collapsed near midfield and was immediately tended to by medical staff. After a few minutes, the 29-year-old center back was taken down the tunnel on a stretcher. Both teams had already left the field.
From the Premier League:
“The Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Luton Town FC has been abandoned due to a player medical incident. Our thoughts are with Tom Lockyer and all players involved in today’s match.”
After Lockyer was taken away, both teams came back out on the field to applaud the fans at Vitality Stadum.
An emotional Rob Edwards applauds the fans at Vitality Stadium after Luton Town’s match against Bournemouth was abandoned due to a medical incident involving Tom Lockyer. #BOULUT pic.twitter.com/U9zUOTjeFh
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) December 16, 2023
After the game, Luton Town released a statement:
We all hope and pray for our leader and captain Tom Lockyer, who is thankfully responsive and has been taken to hospital.
We don’t know the full extent of what happened and what the next steps are at this stage, but we thank Bournemouth and the medical staff on both sides for their immediate response, which was absolutely amazing. We are sorry to all supporters present that players from both sides were in no state of mind to continue with the game after seeing their much-loved team-mate and friend taken off like that, and staff could not carry on with managing the game in such circumstances having had to deal with the situation. We thank everyone for the wonderful applause and singing of Locks’ name inside the stadium at such a difficult time.
Now is the time for all of our players, staff and supporters to come together as we always do and give our love and support to Tom and his family.
Our thoughts are with him and them all.
This is the second instance in the past year of Lockyer collapsing during a game. During May’s Championship playoff final, he suffered an atrial fibrillation, a condition that causes an irregular heartbeat. After surgery to fix the issue, he returned to play for Luton, which had secured promotion to the Premier League, after being cleared by doctors.
