Former West Brom midfielder Quévin Castro dies at 25 after collapse

Quévin Castro, a 25-year-old midfielder who once played for West Bromwich Albion, collapsed about 10 minutes into a preseason friendly in Portugal on Saturday, 22 August, and died after being taken to a hospital.

Quevin Castro was far more than a player, he was a member of our family, leaving a mark on all those who had the privilege of knowing him, both on and off the pitch.

Castro went down at the Estádio das Seixas in Malveira, near Lisbon, playing for the fourth-tier Portuguese club Real Sport Clube, known locally as Real Massama, against the top-flight side Estrela da Amadora. Medical staff from both clubs sprinted onto the pitch and deployed a defibrillator, and Portugal's National Institute of Medical Emergency was called to the scene, but resuscitation was unsuccessful and he was taken to hospital.

What happened on the pitch

Portuguese reports said Castro signalled he was feeling unwell before falling to the ground roughly 10 minutes into the fixture. His death was confirmed at hospital, and the friendly was immediately abandoned. West Bromwich Albion, the English club where he made his name, confirmed the news later that day and said it was devastated.

The cause of the collapse has not been disclosed. Portuguese reports said Castro felt unwell at the start of the match, but no official finding on why the 25-year-old died has been released, and the clubs did not say when a post-mortem examination might be completed.

Castro died six days after his 25th birthday. Born Quévin Moisés Cachicote da Rocha de Castro in Lisbon on 16 August 2001, he held dual citizenship in Portugal and England and stood 1.93 metres, a physically imposing figure in the middle of the pitch who came through the Sporting CP academy as a boy.

He grew up in Thetford, Norfolk, and attended The Thetford Academy before making his name in the English non-league game. As a teenager he turned out for local clubs including Mildenhall Town, Thetford Town, Norwich CBS, Leiston and Bury Town.

Castro had trial spells at Ipswich Town, Arsenal and Chelsea before West Bromwich Albion offered him a two-year contract in the summer of 2021, after he impressed during a trial at the club.

A short spell at West Brom

He made his senior debut on 25 August 2021, starting a 6-0 EFL Cup second-round defeat to Arsenal at the age of 20. His first Championship appearance came on 28 February 2022, when he came on as a substitute in a 2-0 loss to Swansea City, and he appeared once more at Reading that April, his last first-team outing for the club.

During two years at The Hawthorns he was loaned to Burton Albion, Notts County and Gateshead, gaining experience across League One and the National League. He won the Premier League Cup with the club's under-23 side in the 2021-22 season, and scouts praised his skill on the ball and his ability to keep possession under pressure.

We are devastated to learn of the untimely passing of our former player Quevin Castro, aged just 25. The club will pay tribute to Quevin on Sunday, with a period of applause in the 25th minute of the fixture against Burnley. Rest in peace, Quevin.

West Brom honoured Castro in the 25th minute of Sunday's Championship fixture against Burnley, a number chosen specifically to mark his age, with James Morrison's players wearing black armbands. The Baggies won the game 3-1 at The Hawthorns.

Tributes across two countries

Estrela da Amadora, the opponents whose medics had tried to revive Castro, expressed their deepest sorrow at his death in an official statement. The Lisbon Football Association extended its condolences to his family, friends and affiliated club, describing the loss as a tragic time for Portuguese football.

After his contract at West Brom expired in 2023, Castro kept playing in England's lower divisions, turning out for York City, King's Lynn Town, Chippenham Town, Cambridge City and, most recently, Eastbourne Borough, before deciding to move back to Portugal this summer.

He returned to Portugal this summer, signing for Real Sport Clube to restart his career in the country where he was born. The move came after he made six appearances for Eastbourne Borough during the previous season, the latest in a run of clubs across the lower reaches of the English game.

The death was one of several high-profile on-pitch collapses in recent years that have renewed discussion about cardiac screening in professional and semi-professional football.

In the hours that followed, tributes came from his former clubs and from supporters in both England and Portugal, the two countries where he had built his career and where he had spent his final months on the pitch.

From Norfolk to Lisbon

Castro, who died on 22 August at 25, built his career across two countries after leaving the Sporting CP academy as a boy and growing up in Norfolk. His path ran through non-league grounds in eastern England, loan spells in the Football League and non-league divisions, and eventually a return to the region where he was born.

Coaches rated his technical ability and his skill on the ball, and his height made him a physically imposing presence in central midfield. Through his family heritage, he was also eligible to represent São Tomé and Príncipe and Angola, in addition to Portugal and England. He was never capped at senior international level.

His move to Real Sport Clube marked a homecoming more than five years after he first left Portugal as a teenager. It reunited him with the Lisbon region where he was born, and where, on Saturday morning, he collapsed and died.

Across his career Castro competed in the Championship, League One, the EFL Cup, the FA Cup and the National League, according to his playing record.

In all, Castro made just three senior first-team appearances for West Brom over two seasons, two in the Championship and one in the EFL Cup, before his loans and lower-league moves.

An unexplained death

No cause of death had been confirmed by Portuguese authorities as of Sunday, and neither club has said when further details might emerge. Castro had been on the pitch for roughly 10 minutes when he signalled distress and fell, according to the Portuguese account of the match, and medics were unable to revive him.

West Brom's tribute came at Sunday's fixture against Burnley, its second league game of the new season. Real Sport Clube called Castro a member of its family who left a mark on all who knew him, and the Lisbon Football Association said its condolences were with his relatives and his affiliated club.