Football is by some distance the biggest sport in the UK. It is the national sport and people love to bet on it just as much as they love watching it every week.
Thankfully, there are plenty of destinations in the UK that allow fans to place bets on football matches all over the world. We have gone out of our way to find the best football betting sites in the UK, judging the contenders on a number of factors such as the quality of their football markets, the bonuses that are available and the number of football betting offers that are available.
Continue on to see our hand-picked list of the best football betting sites in the UK.
Best Betting Sites For Football
Online football betting sites are highly coveted in the UK for obvious reasons. There is a huge number of football fans that want to place bets on matches — and only want to do so with the best bookmakers. And rightly so.
Take a look below to see our pick of the best football betting sites in the UK.
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bet365
bet365 is without a doubt one of the best betting sites for football in the UK. bet365 has a fantastic reputation amongst sports betting sites and with good reason. Both the mobile app and website come packed with an incredible range of football markets, allowing customers to bet on anything from the number of corners in a match to what the first set piece of the match will be. In addition, there are plenty of football offers on bet365 including their 2 goals ahead early payout offer, up to 70% soccer accumulator bonus and soccer substitute guarantee promotions. New customers can also get £30 in free bets with a £10 qualifying bet.
Betfred
Next on our list is Betfred, which is serious about football betting. Betfred has an impressive range of football markets and coverage of games from all corners of the globe. Also coming with a clean user interface that makes it easy for punters to find the football markets they’re searching for, Betfred is definitely a top choice. Extra value is also added with their acca insurance promotion. Sign up today to claim Betfred’s outstanding bet £10 get £40 in bonuses welcome offer.
William Hill
William Hill is a big favourite amongst UK sports betting customers, having been a staple of the selection of bookmakers since being founded as a high street bookie in 1934. The company has translated their success with in-person betting to its online betting site, which is one of the best that we have used. Customers can regularly find bonuses and odds boosts around football matches and can also benefit from their acca freedom and free or 4 offers, as well as regular bet and get promotions. To boot, William Hill also boasts one of the best football betting apps in the UK. Join William Hill and bet £10 to get £30 in free bets.
BetVictor
There is another chance to claim £40 in free bets by signing up to BetVictor. Their new customer offer sees players that sign-up and place a £10 bet on any football market rewarded with £40 in free bets. These £40 in free bets are then divided up into 4 x £10 free bets that can be used on selected football markets. BetVictor also has an impressive range of football markets and a loyalty club that will benefit their most active players. Enjoy comprehensive coverage of football at BetVictor.
BetUK
One of the best new betting sites in the UK is BetUK, which has impressed many with its football betting options. BetUK’s simple user interface makes it easy to find what you are looking for, while they also have a BetUK Specials page that is dedicated to their enhanced odds offers for football. As part of their official partnership with Manchester City, BetUK is also offering a 10% profit boost on every game you bet on involving the Premier League side, as well as the BetUK Acca Club. The new customer offer available today is an impressive bet £10 get £30 promotion.
Betway
Up next is Betway, which has one of the most impressive bet builder functions that we have seen from a football betting site in the UK. Betway’s choice of football markets is extremely impressive, featuring markets from live matches from England to Estonia. The new customer offer at Betway is unique compared to the others on this list, as it does not follow the ‘bet and get’ template. New customers at Betway can get a £30 matched free bet if your first accumulator bet on football or horse racing with at least three or more selections loses. Sign up today to claim this offer.
LiveScore Bet
LiveScore Bet has made a good impression since launching, so much so that they find themselves in our list of the best football betting sites. Betting sites for football is a competitive business, making it important that new sites regularly offer solid promotions around football and that is the case at LiveScore Bet. Their promotions page is regularly updated with football offers, such as getting a £5 free bet when you place a £5 bet builder on Premier League matches, which was live at the time of writing. New customers at LiveScore Bet can bag £20 in free bets when they sign up and place a £10 qualifying bet online.
Virgin Bet
Another new face to sports betting in the UK is Virgin Bet, which is also offering new customers the chance to claim £20 in free bets when they sign up and bet £10. Virgin Bet has daily price boosts surrounding selected football markets, as well as some impressive existing customer bonuses. The standout we found was their weekly acca opt-in offer, where a £10 free bet is available to players that place two £10+ accumulator bets every week. Football fans can also enjoy their fives promotion, which is a free-to-play game each week which real cash prizes available.
Mr.Play
The last of the brands on our list of the best football betting sites is Mr.Play. Football is the main focus of their site, sitting at the top of their list of sports and at the forefront of their immediate list of in-play markets too. Mr.Play also has a welcome offer that new customers are able to claim once they sign up. Bet £10 to get a £10 free bet when you first sign up to Mr.Play, which can be used to bet on football markets. Mr.Play gives their customers the chance to bet on football from a huge number of countries, from Uganda to Uzbekistan and Ecuador to Egypt.
How to join Football Betting Sites
Joining football betting sites is a simple process that is straightforward to follow. Most online football betting sites have a similar sign-up method to each other, making it easy to join multiple sites with little confusion. Follow each of these steps to join one of the best football betting sites in the UK today.
- Click the link above to be taken to the registration page of the football betting site you wish to join.
- Enter your personal details where required, including name, date of birth and address.
- Choose a unique username and password combination.
- Enter any promo codes required to be eligible for the site’s welcome bonus — this will clearly be stated within the T&Cs if necessary.
- Accept the terms and conditions.
- Click ‘join now’ to complete the process of creating your account.
If you are interested in claiming the welcome bonuses that are on offer above, be sure to read the terms and conditions of each individual offer before claiming them. This way, it removes the doubt of potentially following the steps incorrectly and losing eligibility for the bonuses on offer. Be sure to pay particularly close attention to terms such as bonus codes, minimum deposit amount, minimum qualifying bet, minimum odds of any selection within the qualifying bet and free bets expiry time.
Betting Sites Football Offers
Football betting offers are extremely lucrative in the sports betting industry. As one of the biggest and most popular sports to bet on, it comes as no surprise that football is at the forefront of the best betting sites offers. There are a number of ways in which bonuses can be claimed from the best online betting sites for football, the best of which we have listed below.
New Customer Offer
As has been demonstrated above, the vast majority of bookmakers in the UK have new customer offers available. All of the best betting sites have these and the best bookmakers offers tend to be in the shape of welcome bonuses. Within these, new customers are given a bonus in return for creating an account with their chosen bookmaker. These will generally be some of the most rewarding bonuses that you receive as an online sports betting customer. More often than not, these will also follow the ‘bet and get’ template, where customers first have to place a qualifying bet using their own money before receiving free bets in exchange. Above, you can find the new customer offers from the best betting sites in the UK.
Free Bets
They say the best things in life are free and that is certainly the case when it comes to betting on football. Occasionally, there will be the opportunity to claim free bets to use to place your football bets with. Whilst it is rare that bookmakers will provide football free bets without any requirements, there are occasions where this will happen, mostly at the time of a significant match such as the Champions League final, for example. However, most of the time customers will be required to place bets using their own cash to then qualify for free bets offers. New customer offers will often use free bets as the carrot to incentivise new players to sign up.
Loyalty Rewards Program
Some football betting sites in the UK have the option for customers to join a loyalty program. These are designed specifically for the most loyal and active players with a bookmaker, ensuring they’re rewarded for their activity with various bonuses and betting offers that are exclusive to VIP players only. Some of these types of rewards programmes are strictly invite-only, but we would only recommend enrolling into one if you are comfortable playing with larger stakes to really get the most out of them.
Matched Deposit Bonus
The majority of bonuses and betting offers that online sports betting customers will receive will generally require a deposit of your own before the bonus is awarded. As part of matched deposit bonuses, football online betting sites will match your deposit amount in bonus amounts. For example, if you make a deposit of £20 under the terms of a matched deposit bonus, you will then be rewarded with a further £20 in bonus funds to play with, giving you a total of £40 in your betting account.
Bet and Get
As is evident above, bet and get is the most common form of bonus that you will see from sports betting sites. Bookmakers will require an initial deposit from players first, after which they will be rewarded with a set bonus amount. Some of the bonuses featured above require an initial deposit and qualifying bet of £10 in exchange for £30 in free bets. Bet and get offers will usually be of good value to sports betting fans and will be regularly accessible to players.
Picking the Best Football Betting Sites UK
With so many different UK football betting sites around, it can be difficult to know which ones are best to select and sign up for. As such, we have compiled a list of strict criteria that we follow and use to test the contenders. Only the best football betting sites have passed and we have outlined the factors that we look for below.
Range of Markets
First and foremost, we have looked at the variety and quality of football betting markets. It goes without saying that this should be a high priority for any football betting site wanting to make an impact as this is what the target audience is specifically searching for. We look for plenty within this sector, such as the various football leagues that you can bet on and the bets that you can place on games. While it would be expected that you could bet on the Premier League and the number of goals in a game, for example, the best football betting sites will have markets within more obscure nations like Paraguay and Nigeria and allow you to bet on outcomes within fixtures like the number of cards and throw-ins, giving the broadest possible football betting experience.
Live Streaming
There are plenty of UK football betting sites that come with the option to live stream football matches from all four corners of the globe. We have hand-picked a number of football betting sites that come with the option to watch games via high-quality streams. This has become an increasingly common feature to find in betting sites for football, but not all operators have this function. We have picked out UK football betting sites that come with the option to stream games, allowing you to watch the action unfold live once your bet has been placed.
Odds
The value of the odds regularly provided by a betting site can have a huge impact on user experience. Uncompetitive odds compared to industry standard will leave customers short-changed on their winnings and ultimately wanting to go elsewhere. To combat that, we have only included brands in our list of the best football betting sites that have competitive odds compared to their competitors and will leave their customers satisfied with the value of their bets and the returns that subsequently come with winning bets.
Welcome Offers
Welcome offers have become the industry standard in recent years, with it rare to find a football betting site that doesn’t come with a bonus for new customers to claim. Any that don’t likely won’t be worth your time, which is why we have only selected operators that have a new customer bonus to claim. These will generally follow the ‘bet and get’ template, but will not always be exclusively restricted to that type of offer, as you can see above. The best thing about welcome offers is there is no limit to how many you can claim as an online football betting customer — allowing you to benefit from the bonuses whilst also exploring which is your favourite football betting site.
Existing Customer Promotions
One of the biggest advantages of new customer offers is they provide excellent value to punters, but what about after that? A football betting site can become stale pretty quickly if there is a lack of further offers for punters to benefit from. As such, we will always assess the state of the promotions page and see what football betting offers are available for existing customers. Bonuses such as odds boosts, acca insurance and bet builders all help to retain interest once the welcome bonus has been played through.
Mobile
There has been a surge of football bettors migrating to betting on their mobile phones. While we have listed the best football betting sites above, we have also taken some consideration into the mobile offering that each brand has. By betting on your mobile and downloading one of the available football betting apps above, there is the ability to have a flutter on the football wherever you are. There are some fantastic football betting apps available to download for free — all you need is your betting account login details to sign up.
Payment Options
The payment options that are available with a football betting site can also impact user experience. We look for football betting sites that have a strong selection of payment methods available to make it as accessible to as many potential customers as possible. A limited range of payment options can make it difficult for some to complete their deposits and withdrawals, with popular options including PayPal, credit cards and debit cards. PayPal betting sites are particularly in demand. We will also look for factors such as the minimum deposit and minimum withdrawal amount required by each betting site.
In-Play Markets
In-play betting, or as it is otherwise known, live betting, has become a big part of the way that many punters are now betting on football in the UK. In-play betting is when punters place bets on a live match whilst it is ongoing. Odds are regularly updated within in-play markets to reflect what has happened in the match at the point that you are betting on it and the way the bookmaker expects it to unfold. Betting in-play can give greater value to players than betting pre-game and can also allow players to bet on instinct from what they have seen to that point of the fixture. Having both in-play and live streaming options is a huge advantage to punters.
Betting Sites Football Markets
There are a number of markets that punters will routinely bet on when it comes to betting on football. There is a great depth of markets available, but these are the most popular that many football fans will regularly have as their go-to bets.
Full-Time Result
This is the most common and popular type of bet to place on football in the UK. Within this market, you must correctly predict the outcome of the match that you are betting on — either home win, away win, or draw.
Both Teams To Score (BTTS)
Both teams to score is another common market that you can expect to see heavily promoted within football betting sites. The simplicity of the market has no doubt contributed with only two options available. Select ‘yes’ if you think both teams will score in the match that you are betting on, or ‘no’ if you do not.
Correct Score
There is decent value to be had within the correct score markets, which leads to plenty of punters betting on the correct score of matches they are watching. Bet on the correct score of the match to be paid out as a winner.
Specials
Football betting sites will occasionally have special markets for their customers to bet on that will be topical to current affairs in football. For example, manager betting markets are popular at the time of managerial sackings and appointments, while there is also the ability to bet on a player’s next transfer. Odds boosts are also often included within these special markets.
Football Accumulators
There are many football betting fans that will place football accumulator bets almost religiously at the weekend. Building coupons for a full Saturday of 3pm kick-offs is extremely popular amongst UK football bettors and there are plenty of searches for football accumulator tips for the weekend. Accumulator bets allow bettors to combine multiple selections under one bet, combining the odds of each selection to get a bigger price than they would’ve got betting on each selection individually. This particularly suits football betting as it allows users to combine multiple short-priced favourites together to get additional value.
Popular Football Tournaments for Betting
The depth of betting markets across UK football betting sites means there is the ability to bet on a vast number of tournaments and leagues across the world. Below, we have listed some of the most popular tournaments that betting sites for football have to offer.
Premier League
The Premier League is the biggest football league in the world and the pinnacle of English football, being the top division in the country. It’s no surprise that, as a result, this is the most popular league to bet on in the UK. The Premier League features 20 of the top teams in the country and regularly has exciting betting offers surrounding matches in the league.
Champions League
The Champions League is Europe’s elite club competition, combining the best teams across the continent each season. It is regarded by most as the most prestigious trophy to win in club football and there is always huge betting interest in the Champions League in the UK. Players can bet on every Champions League match each season and have the ability to bet on the outright winner of the competition.
Serie A
One of the top five leagues in European football, Serie A is a popular option amongst football bettors across Europe. Featuring some of the biggest teams in Europe such as Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan, there are plenty of attractive betting proposals with betting on Serie A matches.
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga is also featured in Europe’s top five. Bayern Munich have regularly dominated the league over recent years, but the competitive nature of the league outside of the Bavarians is partly responsible for the strong interest in betting on the Bundesliga.
La Liga
Headlined by Barcelona and Real Madrid, it’s no surprise that there is big betting interest in La Liga. What’s more, there is also the ability to live stream La Liga matches with a number of football betting sites in the UK when you place a bet on them.
Championship
When it comes to drama and shock factor, there are very few football leagues that can compete with the Championship. The second tier of English football, it’s one of the most entertaining leagues in the world and there is a huge 557 Championship matches to bet on per season (including Play-Offs).
FAQs
What are the best Football Betting Sites UK?
The best football betting sites in the UK can all be found above. Sign up today to claim the welcome offers that are available and to start betting on football!
What is the minimum age to use UK Football Betting Sites?
The minimum legal age to use football betting sites in the UK is 18. Players will be required to prove their age and identity when creating an account.
How do I bet on football?
Betting on football is extremely simple. Find the match/market you are looking for, then add your selection to your betslip. Select your stake and then click ‘place bet’ to complete the process.
Is betting on football legal in the UK?
Yes, betting on football is legal in the UK. However, it’s only safe when betting on sites that are licensed by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC). Each of the football betting sites listed above is fully licensed by the UKGC and are trusted betting sites.
How can I use football free bets?
Football free bets can be used on a number of different markets, such as full-time result, tournament winner or both teams to score. Always be sure to read the terms and conditions of your football free bets before claiming them to see if there are any requirements such as minimum odds or selected markets. Also, remember that bet stakes aren’t returned in most free bet winnings.