Fans attending Brentford’s Premier League match against Chelsea can take part in activities to support Restart a Heart Day. Every October, hundreds of thousands of people across the UK – and many more worldwide – are taught cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as part of the Restart a Heart campaign. The campaign is led in the UK by Resuscitation Council UK alongside partners including the British Heart Foundation and NHS England. Brentford FC will be joining in this year.

Restart a Heart Day will be held on Saturday, 16 October, the same day Brentford entertain Chelsea in the Premier League’s West London derby. To mark the day, we will be holding CPR demonstrations in the Family Area at our stadium. Restart a Heart will also be referenced in our matchday programme and in the stadium on the day.

The annual Restart a Heart campaign, which is in its eighth year, aims to train people in how to perform CPR, so they feel confident to act in an emergency. Cardiac health is of particular importance to all at Brentford FC as former Technical Director Robert Rowan died suddenly in November 2018 after suffering a fatal cardiomyopathy episode. There is an ongoing effort to raise funds and awareness, which will include Saturday’s match.

Head of Medical Neil Greig ran the Manchester Marathon last weekend in memory of Robert to raise money for Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) and Brentford FC Community Sports Trust. The Trust will spend some of what is raised to provide Automated External Defibrillators (AED) and training in how to use them for football clubs or at sports pitches in the local area, aimed at helping save the life of someone experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest. Read about that fund-raising here. Head of B Team Athletic Performance James Purdue ran the London Marathon at the start of the month in another fund-raising effort and that story can be seen here.

Part of the demonstration on Saturday will include information on how to use AEDs. Further information is also available at resus.org.uk, including a very short video fans can watch to build an understanding of what to do to help restart a heart – and save a life.

The importance of defibrillators was shown in the summer when Denmark midfield player Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest when playing for his country against Finland in a UEFA European Championship match. His life was saved when he was defibrillated on the pitch and three Brentford players – Marcus Forss, Mathias Jensen and Christian Nørgaard – were involved in the match. There are four defibrillators at our stadium (in the reception at Entrance C, Level 1 near the entrance to the Dugout lounge, upper East concourse and upper West concourse). Having defibrillators in more community settings, together with training on how to use them and in CPR, will save lives which is why Brentford FC is proud to support Restart a Heart Day.

We would like to remind supporters that there is significant travel disruption on Saturday 16 October, when Brentford host Chelsea. Planning to get to the area early is more important than ever. Please leave plenty of time to arrive on Saturday to avoid the risk of missing kick-off. Read more here.