Our Story

It's Personal!

Our charity has been on a long yet rewarding journey since 2015, when Andy witnessed his Forest Rangers FC teammate Matt Richardson die from a cardiac arrest playing over 35’s football. Two days later his good friend, Peter Katholos (ex-NSL and Socceroos player) witnessed his Belmore Hercules teammate die the same way.

It was obvious that something needed to be done to stop these deaths at football grounds.

Heartbeat of Football (HoF), a not-for-profit organisation, was established in early 2016 by media personality and football enthusiast Andy Paschalidis as a direct result of these events.

Heartbeat of Football promotes healthy hearts in sport via:

  • Awareness & Education: player, participant & community programs

  • Prevention: minimisation of health risks through simple screening checks

  • Action: "rescue-ready" defibrillators at all sporting fields across Australia

Note: we don’t directly sell defibrillators (AEDs) yet can suggest some trusted quality providers.

Heartbeat of Football is focused on reducing the number of cardiac events through proactive testing and the promotion of defibrillators at sporting grounds across Australia.

Our goal is simple: zero heart-related deaths at football grounds in Australia.

Why Football?

Football is the current vehicle to promote heart health awareness; a need for CPR/AED training and more research yet this doesn't mean we don't care about other sports - our mission is sport-agnostic and Australia-wide with many sports personalities supporting Heartbeat of Football.

  • Reach: largest participation sport in Australia.

  • Diversity: most inclusive sport in Australia, age, gender, ability & background.

  • Heritage: Andy's background and deep connections extend far & wide.

  • Relevance: the highest % of heart health related incidents and deaths in sport in Australia

"Australian football is a melting pot of 2 million participants represented by over 200 different cultures. We are the most diverse and globally connected sport within the Australian sporting landscape." Source: FFA XI Principles for the future of Australian football