16 December 2023 , 17:41
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Bournemouth’s Premier League game against Luton Town was abandoned on Saturday after Tom Lockyer collapsed on the pitch.
The match was suspended in the 65th minute after Luton captain Lockyer collapsed off the ball. Referee Simon Hooper took the players off the pitch and, after Lockyer had received medical treatment and been stretchered off, the decision was taken to abandon the game.
Lockyer was taken to hospital, where it was later confirmed he had suffered a cardiac arrest, and Luton manager Rob Edwards came back out onto the pitch to thank the supporters. “The Premier League match between Bournemouth and Luton has been abandoned due to a player medical incident,” the Premier League tweeted. “Our thoughts are with Tom Lockyer and all players involved in today’s match.”
The score was 1-1 when the match was abandoned, with Elijah Adebayo heading in to put Luton ahead early on before Dominic Solanke equalised for the home side. That scoreline was not in the thoughts of anyone at the Vitality Stadium – and it won’t stand. The FA website says: “An abandoned match is replayed unless the competition rules or organisers determine otherwise.”
It further adds: “In the event of a competition match not being played or abandoned owing to causes over which neither club has control, it should be played in its entirety on a date to be mutually agreed by the two clubs and approved by the competition. Failing such agreement and notification to the competition within [ ] days the competition shall have the power to order the match to be played on or before a given date.”
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The match will be rearranged by the Premier League, but for now everyone’s thoughts are with Lockyer, his family and friends. “We all hope and pray for our leader and captain Tom Lockyer, who is thankfully responsive and has been taken to hospital,” Luton tweeted. “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.
Tom Lockyer received medical treatment after collapsing (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)“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.”
Bournemouth added: “We’re relieved to hear Tom is responsive. Our thoughts will continue to be with Tom and his family at this time. We’d like to thank all the medical staff for their quick action as well as everyone inside the stadium for their support and unity during a difficult moment.”