Special football shirt on sale for 'important' cause

A football club will be wearing a special black kit this weekend to raise awareness about a fatal condition that impacts players.

Cheltenham Town FC has produced a one-off shirt, which will be worn on Saturday, to help raise funds for the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

Footballers are more at risk of dying from cardiac issues compared to men of similar age, according to data.

Sam Stubbs, Cheltenham defender, said: "It's a good initiative and it's obviously an important cause, so it's brilliant the club can help."

Every shirt that is sold will raise £5 for the charity and the club will auction off the match-worn shirts after the game.

"A few of the ex-pros, men and women, who've had a heart condition, we've talked about them, what to do, what not to do.

"It's something that we're all briefed on and if you're a footballer or not, it's vitally important," Mr Stubbs added.

Heart issues in the sport have been highlighted by the likes of footballers Christian Eriksen and Tom Lockyer, who both collapsed during games.

Luke Saunders, the club's marketing manager, said: "It's great for the charity and it's great for the club as well, because we've got the platform to be able to get the message out."

Every week in the UK, 12 people aged under 35 die from sudden cardiac arrest.

And in the UK each year, 30,000 cardiac arrests happen outside of hospitals - all requiring emergency resuscitation, with just one in 10 people surviving.

Louise Gallard, fundraising manager for the BHF, said: "We're immensely grateful to Kohler Mira for donating their shirt sponsorship to us. This initiative is part of their year-long support of our work which has seen them raise £50,000 for our research into heart and circulatory diseases.

"It's going to be very exciting to see Cheltenham Town take the field wearing this special strip, and hopefully they can mark the occasion with a famous win."

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