Jermain Defoe unveils EFL 'Red Boot' as Sky Bet and British Heart Foundation relaunch Every Minute Matters
New one-off award will direct £50,000 per goal by 2025-26 winner to CPR training and CureHeart research as Defoe, a Premier League Hall of Fame nominee, helps kick off the campaign
Jermain Defoe, a nominee for the Premier League Hall of Fame, on Saturday helped unveil a new one-off EFL award — the "Red Boot" — as Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation relaunched their Every Minute Matters CPR-awareness campaign.
The Red Boot, announced for the 2025-26 season, will be presented to the striker who scores the most goals across the three tiers of the English Football League. Sky Bet has pledged that every goal scored by the eventual Red Boot winner will trigger a £50,000 donation to the British Heart Foundation to support CPR training and CureHeart, the charity’s research programme into inherited heart muscle diseases.
Defoe, who made 496 appearances in the English top flight and scored 162 Premier League goals — the tenth-highest total in the competition’s history, including 91 for Tottenham Hotspur — described the campaign’s ambitions as "vital". "Everyone in football saw what the Every Minute Matters campaign achieved last year — inspiring over 300,000 people to start learning CPR was an incredible feat and I’m delighted to be backing the campaign this year and lending my voice to encourage fans of all clubs to learn lifesaving CPR," he said.
Bobby Zamora joined Defoe at the announcement. The partners said they aim to engage more than 500,000 people with RevivR, the BHF’s free online CPR training tool, by the end of the 2025-26 season. More than 300,000 people used RevivR during the first year of the campaign, they added.
The Red Boot differs from the traditional EFL Golden Boot awards, which are presented separately to top scorers in the Championship, League One and League Two. The Red Boot will recognise the single highest aggregate goalscorer across all three divisions. Organisers noted that, under last season’s tallies, the award would have gone to Bromley’s Michael Cheek of League Two, who scored 25 league goals — a total that would have generated £1.25 million in funding for the BHF under the Red Boot arrangement.
Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation said the money raised through the Red Boot will be used to train more people in lifesaving CPR and to fund CureHeart, an ambitious research programme aimed at developing treatments and cures for inherited heart muscle diseases. The partners said every goal scored by the Red Boot winner will convert into immediate funds to expand training and research capacity.
Defoe, who was born in east London and has been involved in community work alongside his playing career, emphasised the domestic significance of CPR training. "It’s crazy to think that 80 per cent of cardiac arrests happen in the home. Ultimately, that’s why learning CPR is so vital, because if the worst happens while you’re at home watching the football or on your way to a game you want to be able to act fast knowing you’ve got the skills and confidence to perform potentially lifesaving CPR," he said.
The announcement comes as Defoe pursues a place in the Premier League Hall of Fame; he is one of 15 nominees. Fans can nominate Defoe via the Premier League app or at premierleague.com/halloffame. Public voting closes at 12:00 BST on Monday, Sept. 15, organisers said.
Organisers urged fans across all clubs to take the short online training. RevivR is promoted as a 15-minute tool that teaches the basics of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and immediate response to cardiac arrest. Sky Bet, the British Heart Foundation and the EFL said they will promote the Red Boot throughout the 2025-26 season to maximise both awareness and fundraising potential.
The initiative links a high-profile on-field accolade to off-field public-health objectives, blending charitable fundraising with fan engagement. By tying donations to goals, the campaign aims to create measurable yearly impacts on CPR training uptake and research funding, while spotlighting heart health across the football pyramid.
Fans interested in learning CPR or supporting the campaign are directed to search for BHF RevivR or visit revivr.bhf.org.uk for the free training tool. The EFL, Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation said further details about the Red Boot’s presentation and tracking will be published ahead of the new season.