Quévin Castro Dies at 25: West Bromwich Albion Mourns
West Bromwich Albion is in mourning after former midfielder Quévin Castro died at the age of 25, having collapsed on the pitch during a friendly in Portugal.
Castro was playing for Real Sport Clube, a lower-division side in Portuguese football, in a pre-season match against Estrela da Amadora on Saturday, August 22, when he suddenly collapsed. The Lisbon Football Association and Real Sport Clube later confirmed on social media that he had died.
No cause of death has been made public.
Albion remembers a former teammate
News of Castro’s passing quickly reached The Hawthorns.
"We are devastated to learn of the untimely passing of our former player Quevin Castro," West Brom said in a statement, posted alongside a photograph of the midfielder lifting the Premier League Cup trophy with the club’s U23s.
Albion paid tribute during their home game against Burnley on Sunday, August 23. Players wore black armbands, and in the 25th minute the stadium rose to applaud, a celebration of life marked deliberately by his age. It was a simple gesture, but it cut through the usual matchday noise.
On the club’s website, West Brom added: "The thoughts of everyone at Albion are with Quevin’s loved ones at this desperately sad time."
A brief, bright spell in the Black Country
Born in Portugal, Castro’s time in West Brom’s first team was short but memorable.
He made his senior debut in 2021, coming on in a Carabao Cup tie against Arsenal. The following year, he appeared in the Sky Bet Championship against Swansea City, a significant step in a career that had been building through the club’s youth and development ranks.
His standout moment in Albion colours came in the Premier League Cup with the U23s. Castro scored in the final against Wolverhampton Wanderers, a tense contest that went all the way to a penalty shootout before West Brom lifted the trophy. That image of him with the cup is now one of the defining snapshots of his career.
West Brom, relegated from the Premier League in 2021, had been reshaping their squad in those years, and Castro was one of several young players trying to force a way through.
A career on the move
Castro’s path since leaving Albion had been restless, the kind of journey many professionals know but few headlines capture.
Before joining Real Sport Clube this summer, he had spells with Burton, Notts County, Gateshead, York City, King’s Lynn, Chippenham, Cambridge City and Eastbourne. Different leagues, different dressing rooms, the same chase for minutes and momentum.
That chase ended on a quiet August afternoon in Portugal.
For those at West Brom and across the clubs he passed through, the shock lies not just in the loss of a former player, but in the brutal finality of a career – and a life – that still felt like it was only just beginning.
