Quevin Castro, Ex-West Brom Player, Dies at 25 After On-Field Collapse

Quevin Castro, a 25-year-old midfielder who once played for West Bromwich Albion, collapsed during a pre-season friendly in Portugal on Saturday morning, August 22, and died a short time later. He had turned 25 six days earlier.

Castro was playing for fourth-tier Real Sport Clube against top-flight Estrela da Amadora when he went down. The game stopped immediately and never restarted. His death was confirmed by both his club and the Lisbon Football Association, which said he had passed away that morning during the match.

The collapse in Malveira

The friendly was held at the Estadio das Seixas in Malveira, a town in the Lisbon area. Castro fell in the opening minutes of the fixture. Reports from Portugal put it at around 10 minutes in, with the midfielder becoming unconscious early in the game.

Medical staff from both teams ran onto the field the moment he dropped. A defibrillator was used on the pitch, and paramedics kept working on him before he was moved to a local hospital. He was pronounced dead there. The match, a warm-up game between a fourth-tier side and a top-flight club, was brought to an immediate halt.

No cause of death has been released

What caused the collapse has not been made public. Portuguese reports say Castro felt unwell around the 10-minute mark before he went down. No cause has been given by his club, the Lisbon Football Association or his family.

His death sent grief through football communities in two countries, since Castro's career ran back and forth between England and Portugal. He had returned to his birth country only weeks before he died.

From Thetford to a West Brom debut against Arsenal

His full name was Quevin Moises Cachicote da Rocha de Castro. He was born in Lisbon on August 16, 2001, and moved to England with his family as a teenager. He grew up in Thetford, a small town in Norfolk, and attended The Thetford Academy.

The early part of his career was non-league grind. He played for Mildenhall Town, Thetford Town, Norwich CBS, Leiston and Bury Town, joining Thetford Town in 2017. He also had trial spells at Ipswich Town, Sutton United, Arsenal, Chelsea and West Brom before anything stuck.

The trial at West Brom is the one that paid off. In the summer of 2021, he signed a two-year deal with the Championship club, his first professional contract. He made his senior debut on August 25, 2021, starting in a 6-0 EFL Cup second-round loss to Arsenal. His first league appearance came on February 28, 2022, when he came off the bench in a 2-0 Championship defeat to Swansea City. He made three senior appearances in all.

Years spent in England's lower leagues

While at West Brom, Castro went out on loan to Burton Albion, Notts County and Gateshead to get regular minutes. His contract expired in 2023, and he never quite got the run in the first team that his early break seemed to promise.

After leaving The Hawthorns, he moved around a lot. He signed for York City in 2023 and spent the second half of that season on loan at King's Lynn Town, then played for Chippenham Town, Cambridge City and Eastbourne Borough. He made six appearances for Eastbourne last season, scoring three, before deciding on a fresh start somewhere else.

That fresh start was Portugal. He signed with Real Sport Clube this summer, hoping to help the club compete in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth tier. York City, one of the many clubs that had him on the books, called him a much-loved member of their squad and sent condolences to his family and friends.

West Brom's 25th-minute applause

West Brom said it was devastated by the news of its former player. The club held a period of applause in the 25th minute of Sunday's Championship fixture against Burnley, the minute matching the age he was when he died. It said James Morrison's players would wear black armbands.

"We are devastated to learn of the untimely passing of our former player Quevin Castro, aged just 25," the club said in a statement. It added that the thoughts of everyone at Albion were with Castro's loved ones at a desperately sad time.

The applause was held on Sunday, August 23, before Albion beat Burnley 3-1.

Grief in Portugal

Real Sport Clube, the team he had just joined, put out a statement that read like they had lost one of their own rather than a summer signing. "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," the club wrote.

Estrela da Amadora, the top-flight side he collapsed against, sent its heartfelt condolences to Castro's family, his friends and the entire club structure around him. "Our thoughts are with all those close to him. Rest in peace, Quevin," the club said.

The Lisbon Football Association framed the loss as one for the whole sport in the country. "To the family, friends, and the affiliated club, we extend our deepest condolences during this tragic time for Portuguese football," it said.

Three brothers who also play the game

Castro came from a soccer family. He was born to a Santomean father and an Angolan mother, and his three brothers, Rudy, Valter Rocha and Aires, are all footballers too. The game ran through the whole household.

His own path was the kind lots of young players know well. A trial that finally opened a door, a debut against one of the biggest clubs in England, then years of loans and lower-league moves chasing the next contract. He had just started the next chapter back home in Portugal when it ended.

He was 25 years old, six days past his birthday, and playing the sport he had chased since he was a boy. The clubs that shaped that short career, on both sides of the water, spent the weekend saying goodbye.