FA to support heart charity in honour of late boss

Shropshire FA plans to raise £10,000 for the British Heart Foundation

The governing body of football in Shropshire has pledged to fundraise for a leading heart health charity, in honour of its former boss.

Shropshire Football Association aims to raise £10,000 for the British Heart Foundation (BHF), a cause that means a lot to staff at the organisation.

The money will fund research into heart and circulatory diseases such as heart attacks and strokes.

"This cause is close to us as we lost our friend and colleague Mick Murphy to a cardiac arrest," said Andy Weston, Shropshire FA's chief executive.

"We wanted to do something that provided a legacy and had an impact on the game and people’s lives, like Mick did every day," he added.

Mr Murphy, 60, the body's former chief executive, died last April at the national Football Association's St George's Park headquarters whilst on Shropshire FA business.

He had served the organisation for more than 20 years, including three as chief executive.

Over the next two years, Shropshire FA said it would train its staff and members in CPR, and hold fundraising initiatives with walking football.

Its aim is to raise £120 per club, to represent the number of people who die each month from heart and circulatory diseases in Shropshire.

It added that it would support portable defibrillators for clubs across the county, after a recent incident saw a 13-year-old go into cardiac arrest on the pitch, with no defibrillator present.

The British Heart Foundation said it was "honoured" to have been chosen by Shropshire FA.

"It is only thanks to the generous support of organisations like Shropshire FA that we can keep research going and discover the treatments and cures of the future," said Zoe Roberts from the charity.