Premier League referee Anthony Taylor and former Arsenal and Bolton Wanderers player Fabrice Muamba attended the installation of a defibrillator at Altrincham FC this week, marking the second phase of the Premier League Defibrillator Fund opening to grassroots clubs across England and Wales.

The Premier League announced in June that it will be providing Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) to more than 2,000 grassroots clubs and facilities, with the aim of helping save the life of someone experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest.

Altrincham FC is one of the sites to benefit from the first round of applications, which was open to Football Foundation-funded facilities without a life-saving device onsite. From today, grassroots clubs that own their facilities will be able to apply for an AED. Once installed, these devices will be accessible, if required, to an estimated 1.5million people across the country per season.

The event was supported by a member of The FA’s medical team, who conducted a CPR training session for a group of Altrincham FC first-team players, women’s players and club and community staff. This also involved Muamba and Taylor, who both spoke about the importance of AEDs.

Muamba, who suffered a sudden cardiac arrest on the pitch while playing for Bolton Wanderers in 2012, said: “I know from personal experience the importance of having access to this type of medical equipment, which is why I am a big supporter of the Premier League’s initiative to fund defibrillators for thousands of grassroots football clubs and facilities.”

Taylor discussed the importance of access to defibrillators, having been the referee when Christian Eriksen collapsed during the Denmark v Finland game at this summer’s European Championship.

“The Premier League being able to provide life-saving equipment across grassroots football really is vital, so I fully support their Defibrillator Fund,” Taylor said.

“Christian Eriksen’s collapse at Euro 2020 highlighted to us all that a sudden cardiac arrest can happen to anyone at any time.

“My daughters and I are season ticket holders at Altrincham, so it’s brilliant for both the club and community that a defibrillator has been installed here.”

The defibrillator installed at National League side Altrincham FC is the latest way in which the Premier League has supported the club. They have previously benefited from Football Stadia Improvement Fund grants totalling more than £660,000, which has most recently included surface work and a new drainage system for their pitch.

Altrincham FC in the Community Director Peter Foster said: “I’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to the Premier League for this defibrillator. We’re a relatively small club but we probably get around 100,000 people coming through the doors a season, from players and spectators to users of the sports hall and staff.

“Any one of them could be required to use a defibrillator and while we hope it’s never used, knowing that the Premier League have been able to provide us with one, in case it is needed, is brilliant.”

Grassroots clubs that own their facilities can head to the Football Foundation website and use this form to check their eligibility for an AED. Once done, clubs can place their order through https://premierleaguedefibs.org/.

At least 12 young people, between ages 12-35 years, die of undiagnosed cardiac conditions in the UK every week. Over 30,000 people of all ages suffer a cardiac arrest outside of hospital every year and less than one in 10 survive.

While defibrillators are designed to be simple to use, each grant recipient will be required to have at least one person successfully complete The FA Education’s free online Sudden Cardiac Arrest course.

The Premier League is working with partners at The FA and Sport England to ensure that facility developments funded by the Football Foundation incorporate this equipment in the future.

The Premier League Defibrillator Fund is in addition to the £100m that the Premier League invests per season in community facilities, community and education programmes. This is the biggest voluntary contribution to communities and other good causes of any football league in the world.

Since forming the Football Foundation in 2000 along with The FA and Government, the Premier League has contributed £364m towards community sports pitches and facilities. This has leveraged total investment of more than £1.6bn in grassroots football.

About the Premier League

The Premier League produces some of the most competitive and compelling football in the world. The League and its clubs use the power and popularity of the competition to inspire fans, communities and partners in the UK and across the world. The Premier League brings people together from all backgrounds.  It is a competition for everyone, everywhere and is available to watch in 880 million homes in 188 countries.

Altrincham FC

Altrincham FC have been the beneficiary of the following Football Stadia Improvement Fund (FSIF) grants from the Premier League since 2004 – unless otherwise stated below (dates of grants included – totalling £662,387):

• New drainage and pitch improvements – £55,000 – 2004
• New WC facilities – £65,000 – 2005
• New floodlights – £9,269 – 2007
• New community sports hall and refurb of changing rooms – £269,470 – 2014 (funded through the Premier League Community Facilities Fund)
• New hospitality area, refurbishment of changing rooms, improvement to hardstanding and resurfacing of the car park – £114,880 – 2014
• New irrigation system and pitch maintenance equipment – £20,000 – 2016
• Surface improvements and new sub-soil drainage system for stadia pitch – £128,768 – 2021

They also received the following COVID-19 relief grants via the Football Foundation (totalling £2,000):

• Pitch preparation Fund- £1,500 – 2020
• Club preparation fund – £500 – 2020

As well as:

• Matchday support fund – £20,000 – 2020 – via the Premier League’s FSIF
• Return to Football Fund – £2,500 – 2021 – via The FA and Sport England

About the Football Foundation

The Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation is the largest sports charity in the UK. It champions and supports fair access to quality football facilities for everyone, regardless of gender, race, disability or place.

The Foundation receives money from the Premier League, The FA and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, through Sport England.  This is matched with partnership funding and awarded as grants to create outstanding grassroots facilities that enable better games and attract more players, helping to transform communities.

Since 2000, it has awarded more than 20,400 grants to improve facilities worth more than £770m – including 958 artificial grass pitches, 8,726 natural grass pitches and 1,223 changing facilities. This has attracted an additional £1bn of partnership funding – totalling over £1.8bn investment in grassroots football so far.

Through the Foundation, the Premier League, The FA, DCMS and Sport England have come together to create the National Football Facilities Strategy (NFFS) that will guide work over the next 10 years to transform many more local facilities. Local Football Facility Plans (LFFP) are being created to identify priority projects where demand is greatest, and the impact will be strongest and help stimulate the action required to deliver them.

Visit footballfoundation.org.uk for more information on the Foundation.