This weekend, every single EFL game up and down the country will kick off one minute later than scheduled, but why?

To mark Heart Month, all 36 fixtures across the Sky Bet Championship, League One and League Two between 5–9 February will kick off one minute later than scheduled.

It forms part of the 'Every Minute Matters' campaign from Sky Bet and The British Heart Foundation, with support from the EFL.

Thursday night's game in League Two between Accrington Stanley and Salford City will be the first, and will kick off at 8.01pm.

What is the Every Minute Matters Campaign?

First launched at Wembley in May 2024, Every Minute Matters has already had a stadium-sized impact.

The campaign set out to engage 270,000 people to start learning CPR using the BHF’s free RevivR tool by May 2025.

The current total sits at over 450,000, and this February, the Every Minute Matters campaign is aiming to hit the incredible milestone of 500,000.

Sky Bet will also be donating £1,000 to the BHF for every goal scored across the EFL in February – meaning a potential £350,000 payout for the charity in one month based on historic league scoring trends.

Ahead of each televised game, team captains will also make the iconic heart-hand gesture 🫶 to inspire fans to ‘Show Your Heart’ by learning lifesaving CPR.

In September, Every Minute Matters unveiled a ‘Red Boot’ award that will be given to the highest scoring footballer in the EFL during the 2025/26 season in recognition of the money they will help raise for the BHF.

With three months to go until the end of the season, Swindon Town’s Aaron Drinan is top with 16 goals.

How can I get involved in the campaign and learn CPR?

There are more than 40,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK each year, and eight out of 10 of these will happen in the home.

And tragically, less than one in ten people survive, often because those around them lack the skills or confidence to perform CPR.

You can 'Show Your Heart' this February and learn CPR in just 15 minutes by searching BHF RevivR or visiting revivr.bhf.org.uk

Who else is supporting the campaign?

Icons from across the footballing world have joined forces to back the campaign, with former Manchester City star Micah Richards and cardiac arrest survivor Tom Lockyer, among the names.

To mark Heart Month, the stars will be flooding social media with images of themselves making the iconic heart-hands gesture to encourage supporters everywhere to ‘Show Your Heart’ and learn CPR.

Why is every EFL game kicking off one minute later this weekend?

Why is every EFL game kicking off one minute later this weekend?