Why all 36 EFL matches kick off one minute later this weekend | OneFootball

According to Sunderland Echo, the EFL has shifted all 36 kick-offs across the Championship, League One and League Two this weekend by one minute to promote life-saving CPR through the Every Minute Matters campaign.

It begins on Thursday 5 February when Accrington Stanley host Salford City in a key League Two fixture. Saturday fixtures such as Wrexham v Millwall, Birmingham City v Leicester City and Rotherham United v Cardiff City are set for 3.01pm, and the tweak runs to Monday 9 February when Sheffield United face Middlesbrough, which could see Kalvin Phillips make his first Championship appearance in more than five years.

The move is backed by Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation, highlighting that each minute without CPR and defibrillation cuts survival chances by 10 per cent. Last season’s Championship play-off final between Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday also started 60 seconds later for the cause.

The issue came into sharper focus in 2023 when Tom Lockyer collapsed 11 minutes into Luton Town’s play-off final against Coventry City, then suffered another collapse in December during a draw with Bournemouth. He is now a BHF ambassador and continues his career with fourth tier Bristol Rovers.

More than 400,000 people have started learning CPR since the campaign began, exceeding four times Wembley Stadium’s capacity. Supporters are invited to use the BHF’s online RevivR tool, which takes just 15 minutes, and the minute delay serves as a reminder that swift CPR can be the difference between life and death.

Source: Sunderland Echo