Astley Mulholland remembers the last conversation with his older brother before the phone call that changed everything.
“It was about my driving test which I was about to take. The next day he was dead.”
Kyle, a football-mad 19-year-old, was playing for five-a-side team Rice Lane Farm when he suffered a cardiac arrest at Walton Hall Park in Liverpool.
He was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead on 7 September 2005.
“If there had been the right equipment on site my brother may have survived,” says experienced non-league forward Mulholland, who plays for eighth-tier Trafford FC.
He has spent the past five years campaigning to get life-saving defibrillators – a device that gives a high-energy electric shock to the heart of someone in cardiac arrest – to sporting venues at all levels.
Last Saturday, a defibrillator was used when a match official collapsed during the Northern Counties East Division One game between Rainworth Miners Welfare and Hallam.
“It’s happening far too often,” adds Mulholland. “We need to keep pushing to make it mandatory to get defibrillators into every ground at every level.”
As Trafford prepare to face Colne in the preliminary round of the FA Cup this Saturday, Mulholland talks about the pain of losing his “best mate”, having tears in his eyes watching Christian Eriksen collapse at Euro 2020, and why he will not stop until defibrillators are at all grounds.
‘Kyle lives on in my dreams’
Sixteen years on, Mulholland – 17 at the time – remembers the night that left him consumed with grief.
It was a Wednesday in early September and he was settling down to watch Sven-Goran Eriksson’s England play Northern Ireland in a World Cup qualifier on TV when the phone rang.
“It was my mum to tell me Kyle had collapsed,” he recalls.
“My sister Chanay was 14 and was there when it happened. She finds it difficult to talk about it.”
The two brothers grew up together in the south Manchester suburb of Wythenshawe.
“We were not only brothers, we were also best mates,” says former Leeds United academy player Mulholland. “As youngsters we were dressed in the same clothes, we both supported Manchester United.
“There was a two-year age gap but we were always together – laughing, joking, fighting and arguing like brothers do at that age.”
Along with mum Karen, they spent part of their childhood living in Alicante, Spain, before returning to Manchester, where the brothers continued their education at Parklands High School, which has since been renamed Manchester Enterprise Academy.
“We did A-level Spanish and both of us got A grades,” adds Mulholland, who has also played for Barrow, Altrincham, FC United of Manchester and Chorley.
Kyle’s memory lives on. Mulholland, 33, has a portrait of his older brother tattooed on his chest and named his son, now one, after him.
“I was only telling mum this morning that he’s been in my dreams the last couple of nights,” says Mulholland, who also has a 12-year-old daughter, Kyia.
“I play football not just for me, but also in memory of Kyle.”
‘Defibrillators at all grassroots sites’
It was 11 years after Kyle’s passing that Mulholland started an online petition to have defibrillators at all sports grounds.
Since its launch in 2016, following the death of non-league footballer Daniel Wilkinson, more than 78,000 signatures have been collected.
Eriksen’s cardiac arrest playing for Denmark against Finland on 12 June – three days before what would have been Kyle’s 35th birthday – prompted a further flurry of signatures.
Mulholland, who was watching the Denmark game on TV, says: “It brought back painful memories. I had a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.”
Former Manchester United player Gary Neville and current star Jesse Lingard are among those who have backed Mulholland’s campaign.
A number of non-league clubs have also shown their support by warming up in #defibrillators4grassroots T-shirts before games.
“I’m trying to raise awareness and money for defibrillators, and it’s a struggle sometimes,” adds Mulholland, who has undertaken first aid training since his brother’s death.
“The cost for one defibrillator is anywhere between £800 and £2,500. We’ve sold enough T-shirts this summer to buy one defibrillator for one club.
“After what happened to my brother, I always ask myself before I play or train ‘where is the nearest defibrillator?’
“In a cardiac arrest, the first few minutes are crucial. Let’s keep our players, officials and spectators safe. Let’s get defibrillators into every sports ground.”
| Trafford play in the Northern Premier League Division One West and are based just over four miles from Manchester United’s Old Trafford ground. | Trafford have played Fleetwood Town, Accrington Stanley, Harrogate Town and Salford City – who are all now Football League clubs – in league matches since 1994. |
| The club was established in 1990 as North Trafford. They adopted their current name in 1994. | Trafford’s best FA Cup run is the third qualifying round which they have achieved three times – most recently in 2013-14. |
‘You don’t just get over it’
Kyle is buried in Everton Cemetery, Fazakerley, Liverpool.
Mulholland does not visit the grave as much as his parents do.
“If I’m honest, I don’t like going,” he says. “When I do go it’s for a blowout, a little talk and a cry with him.”
Asked what Kyle would think about his campaign, Mulholland says: “He was very chilled so he’d probably tell me ‘don’t worry about it, crack on with your life’.
“But it is something I am passionate about. I’ll keep going until people tell me I can’t.
“Even though it’s been 16 years since Kyle died, you don’t just get over it.”
