It's a bootiful game! Premier League Hall of Fame nominee Jermain Defoe unveils new 'Red Boot' trophy as Sky Bet and British Heart Foundation relaunch their partnership

When listing some of the biggest contributors to the Premier League's success, former Tottenham, Sunderland and West Ham great Jermain Defoe deserves a special mention.

With 496 appearances in the English top flight, Defoe was the embodiment of consistency.

His 162 goals in the Premier League is the tenth highest in the competition's history, 91 of which came at Tottenham Hotspur.

Those accomplishments have been recognised this week, with Defoe one of 15 nominees for the Premier League's Hall of Fame.

When asked what the nomination meant to him, Defoe noted how grateful he was.

'It's unbelievable to be honest,' he said. 'Sometimes I have to pinch myself – I was just that kid from the East End who grew up playing football with my mates.

'I hoped and prayed that one day I would be playing in the Premier League and for my country, so to work so hard and be able to fulfil my dreams and be nominated for the Hall of Fame off the back of it is surreal.

'As you can imagine, there are so many players already in the Hall of Fame who I grew up watching, so to have my name in and amongst theirs is truly humbling.'

Fans can nominate Defoe for the Hall of Fame via the Premier League app or at premierleague.com/halloffame, with the public vote closing at 12:00 BST on Monday, September 15.

It is not only his contribution on the pitch that makes Defoe's impact on football in this country so significant, with his community work proving just as pivotal. Defoe is an ambassador for the British Heart Foundation's 'Every Minute Matters' – a campaign in collaboration with Sky Bet that has set out to raise awareness and understanding of the transformational power of lifesaving CPR.

With the recent launch of the second year of the Every Minute Matters campaign, Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation have a new ambition that aims to help create an army of 500,000 CPR lifesavers and raise vital funds for the charity's work.

Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation, with the support of the EFL, are kicking off the second year of their lifesaving Every Minute Matters campaign with the launch of the EFL 'Red Boot' – a new one-off award for the 2025-26 season for the best striker across all three tiers of the English Football League.

Defoe and Bobby Zamora joined forces on Wednesday to unveil the new trophy and explain that every goal scored by the EFL 'Red Boot' winner for 2025-26 will see £50,000 go towards training more people in lifesaving CPR and help fund CureHeart, an ambitious BHF research programme which aims to develop treatments and cures for inherited heart muscle diseases.

By the end of the 2025-26 football season, Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation have the ambition of engaging over half a million people with RevivR – the BHF’s free online CPR training tool – including the more than 300,000 who have already done so in the first season of the Every Minute Matters campaign.

While the EFL’s legendary Golden Boot accolade is given to each of the top scorers in the Championship, League One and League Two, its bright red counterpart will go to the footballer who achieves the highest tally across the three divisions.

The ‘Red Boot’ last season would have gone to League Two Bromley’s Michael Cheek, who netted 25 goals for the Ravens – which would have equated to £1.25 million in critical funding for the BHF.

Defoe spoke on the importance of the campaign and the positive change it will bring.

‘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.

‘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.’

For those interested in getting involved, fans can show their support and learn CPR in just 15 minutes: search BHF RevivR and/or visit revivr.bhf.org.uk.