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- The Championship, League One and League two play-off finals are upon us
- The kick-off time for all three games has been pushed back one minute
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Fans watching this weekend’s three EFL play-off finals this weekend will notice that they all kick off one minute later than is the norm.
It comes in an effort to raise awareness for an important cause, that being the ‘Every Minute Matters’ campaign.
It is a collaboration between Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation, aiming to inspire supporters to learn CPR.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a vital skill used during cardiac or respiratory arrest that involves chest compressions in the aim of restoring a heartbeat.
Sheffield United will face Sunderland in the Championship play-off final at Wembley on Saturday afternoon with kick-off at 3.01pm.
The following day Charlton will take on Leyton Orient in the League One play-off final at 1.01pm, also at the ‘Home of Football’.
The Championship play-off final takes place at Wembley Stadium on Saturday afternoon
The League Two final between AFC Wimbledon and Walsall will then go down on Monday with kick-off at 3.01pm.
The EFL have said that since the launch of the ‘Every Minute Matters’ initiative last season it has already managed to surpass the original target of encouraging 270,000 people.
They have now set their sights on encouraging ‘360,000 people to use the British Heart Foundation’s online RevivR tool and to start learning the lifesaving technique’.
Luton Town captain Tom Lockyer is an ambassador for the BHF, having suffered a cardiac arrest during a match against Bournemouth in 2023, and says it is an ‘incredible platform’ to continue to raise awareness for the campaign.
‘I was just one of the more than 30,000 people who suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest every year in the UK,’ he said. ‘I am lucky to be alive today, but the reality is that less than 1 in 10 people usually survive, which is why it’s vital that we continue to raise awareness.
‘The symbolic kick-off times are the perfect way to make our lifesaving message impossible to ignore.
‘Over the course of the last year, the EFL community – fans, players and the clubs – have come together and united behind the Sky Bet Every Minute Matters campaign to achieve something I never thought possible.
‘And now, as we approach the business end of the season, the Sky Bet Play-Off Finals provide an incredible platform to continue to spread the word and bring the curtain down on a game-changing year in the fight against cardiac arrest.’
