Best Football Betting Sites in UK

History of Football

The game of football began in England and can be traced back to a game played between villages in medieval times, with one ball shared between teams of hundreds and the goals spread miles apart. This form of football still exists and is known as Shrovetide football, though it’s only played once a year now in the UK village of Ashbourne.

The game we recognise today was born from English public schools, where competitive rivalry led to fixed rules applied by all so that the game could be played between the various schools and colleges. Over time, disagreements over what exactly the rules should be led to a split into the game of rugby and the game of football (soccer).

The The Football Association was formed in 1863 with a set of rules agreed upon by all that could be used nationwide, leading to the creation of national leagues and later international soccer between nations.

History of Football Betting in the UK

The UK has a long history of football betting dating back to the late 19th century, when players would place informal bets on local football matches. Football betting became more structured in the 1920s when football pools were introduced.

In 1961, legal betting shops were established, making football betting widely accessible. With the rise of the internet in the late 1990s came online betting, transforming the market and allowing bookmakers to offer live betting and different football markets.

To regulate the industry, the Gambling Act 2005 was introduced, and today football betting is regulated by the UK Gambling Commission.

How Do We Rate Football Bookmakers

Before we rate any bookmaker as part of the best football betting site in UK, our team of experts will thoroughly evaluate the football bookmakers using a clear set of parameters. Here are the things we consider when rating a football bookmaker:

• Licensing and Security: Before we go into any other criteria, the bookmaker must be licensed by the UK Gambling Commission, and their licence number must be verifiable.
• Football Markets and Odds: We help players to check the average margin of football sports to know how competitive the odds are. We also check the variety of tournaments and betting markets covered.
• Bonuses and Promotions: Because bonuses can really give you an edge while playing, we check for both the welcome bonuses for new players and existing players. For existing players, we look for free bets, cashback, and loyalty rewards..
• Mobile and Live Betting: For a football bookmaker to be ranked better, we check and test their mobile apps for ease of use and how responsive the live betting features are. We also look out for live streaming options.
• Payment Methods and Withdrawal Speed: Payment methods must be reliable, secure, fast, and convenient for UK players.
• Customer Support:  We usually check how responsive and available a support channel is whenever needed.
• User Experience: Lastly, we look at other users' experience with the website and mobile apps.

Is football betting in the UK legal

How to Bet on Football

If you’re new, then more emphasis should be on this part. He’re a step-by-step guide to help you place your first bet:

1. Choose a Licensed Bookmaker: Pick from our list of the 5 best football betting sites UK.
2. Create an Account: Create an account with them by providing your correct details and verifying your identity.
3. Deposit Funds: Proceed to fund your account with the minimum required amount. You can use any of the acceptable payment methods within your reach.
4. Select a Football Match: Proceed to select the football sport, the specific tournament, and the fixtures you want to bet on.
5. Pick Your Bet Type: You’ll usually find markets like Match Result, Over/Under, or Accumulators. Select your preferred type and continue to the bet slip.
6. Place Your Bet: In the bet slip, you can enter your stake and confirm your bet.
7. Track and Cash Out: After placing a bet, keep an eye on the live scores to track progress and use the cash-out options if available.

Popular Football Betting Markets

⚽ Match Odds (To win)

The most simple bet you can place, simply selecting the team that you think will win, or if you think it will be a draw. This market is sometimes called the 1x2 market, and usually the teams are displayed as the home team first. Unless otherwise stated this market is settled after 90 mins (plus injury time) has been played.

⚽ Correct Score

This market is just picking what you believe will be the exact final score at the end of the game. It is common to see scores listed up to around 4-4 but for higher more infrequent results you may need to request a price. (For instance Tottenham 10-1 Arsenal !)

⚽First Goalscorer

This is a bet placed on who you believe will be the first person to score in the match

It’s worth hunting around for the best odds on these bets and keep your eye out for bonuses, money back offers and boosts should your player score again.

⚽Over / Under goals

This is a wager based on how many goals will be scored in the game. The most common type is the 2.5 market because the two options, over or under, and both usually about evens. It is possible to also bet the number of goals scored by a specific team, but this is less common.

⚽A red card in the match

Very simply you are betting on a red card to be shown in the match. Although you should always check specific T&C’s at your betting site, we have only ever seen this also apply to two yellow cards, which then result in a red, as well as just a direct red. Interestingly whether or not it applies to cards shown to support staff on the touchline varies from site to site.

⚽Asian Handicaps

Asian Handicaps involve betting on the result but with one team having either a head start or a handicap at the start. The most common handicap for a fairly even match would be +0.5 / -0.5 which essentially just takes away the draw. In this example if it was 0-0 then the team +0.5 would win, because the score was 0 - 0.5 to them. There can be a large number of different handicaps and sometimes split handicaps and as a rule these are complex bets that should be avoided unless you fully understand what you are doing.

⚽Both Teams To Score

As the name suggests it is a simple bet placed on whether you believe both teams will (or won’t) score during a match. It is based on the final score (so own goals would count).

What are the most popular types of football bets

⚽Singles

A single bet is placed on one single outcome to happen.

⚽Accas

Betting on more than one outcome over a number of different matches. As soon as you add another match to your coupon it will become an acca, and depending on how many outcomes you pick it could be a double, treble, etc. These bets roll up the winnings of each game and place them all on the next one, meaning that the winnings can be very high from a low stake, but if you get just one result wrong, you get nothing.

⚽In-Play

This term is for bets placed during an ongoing “live” match. Originally a new and quite uncommon thing to do it is now very popular and offered by virtually every bookmaker.

Football Bonuses and Promotions

UK bookmakers offer different types of football betting bonuses. The most common types include:

• Welcome Bonus: This is a reward for new customers, typically offered as free bets or a deposit match.
• Free Bets: The bonus lets you place bets without using your own money.
• Deposit Match Bonus: Here, the bookmaker matches a percentage of your initial deposit and gives you extra funds to bet with.
• Enhanced Odds: Here, you get boosted odds on selected football matches to increase potential winnings.
• Cashback Offers: It is a refund of part of your stake if your bet loses under specific conditions.
• Seasonal Promotions: This is a special, limited-time offer that is tied to major football events like the Champions League or World Cup.

What are the best football betting Welcome offers

The best football betting Welcome offers will change all the time, so the best we can do is write about what is best at the time of publication. As a general rule, we think BetMGM has the best Welcome bonus: get £30 in Free Bets when you bet £10.

Bookmaker	Bonus Offer	Advantages	Visit
	Up to £30 in Bet credits	Simple to claim, and works on most football markets	Get Bonus
	Bet £10, Get £30 in Free Bets	High-value welcome offer.	Get Bonus
	Bet £10 Get £30 in Free Bets	Easy to access, ideal for starters.	Get Bonus
	Deposit £10 and get a £20 free bet on sports	Competitive bonus.	Get Bonus

What are the best football betting existing user bonuses

The best bonuses for existing users at the present time are:

• 2Up – A promotion run by several bookmakers that pays out as a winner any match odds bet once the team has gone two goals ahead, even if the final result is a draw or a loss.
• Double Delight / Hat Trick Heaven – A promotion where bets on the first goalscorer are paid out at double the odds if that player scores again, and triple the odds if they get a hat trick.
• Acca Boosts – The more legs you add to the Acca, the greater the % bonus winnings you will get should it come in, although the number of legs required and the % amounts vary from site to site.

Live Football Betting

Mobile Betting

All of the top bookmakers have their own dedicated mobile app (or a well-optimized mobile football betting site) offering live betting, streaming, and exclusive promotions. Below you can see a comparative table featuring the best apps for football betting.

Best iOS betting apps

Best Android betting apps

Popular Football Events to Bet On

The football season originally ran from August to June but is now an almost non-stop event. There are the domestic league playoffs, as well as international matches and pre season friendly tournaments. And that is just the UK, leagues around the world all start and finish at different times. All this means that you would be hard pressed not to find a day in the calender when there isn’t a football match taking place somewhere for you to bet on it.

Listed below are the main footballing competitions that all betting sites will cover and usually run special promotions for.

🏆 The UK Premier League

The premier competition in the UK and most watched and gambled on league in the world. Most websites use this as their main point of attracting new customers and tailor offers with all the big matches and you will be able to find a promotion or bonus offer on any game during the season.

Matches are in a weekly league format and occur from Saturday through to Fridays with so much data available this is the easiest place to start gambling on football matches.

🏆 The FA Cup

The world’s oldest knockout competition can be gambled on at every stage the magic of the FA Cup is the chance it gives smaller teams to score an upset against one of the big boys. Think Wimbeldon’s win in 1988, Wigan in 2013, Wycombe’s run to the semi finals in 2001 or numerous cup upsets when a non-league team knocked out more fancied opposition. This represents a great chance to back an underdog against the odds and win a memorable bet!

The early qualifying rounds take in clubs right down to university teams and include levels down to level 9 of the UK football league so will not always be as easy to bet on due to the size of the teams entering. But from the 1st round websites will run numerous promotions and markets on all matches and each round closer to the final at Wembley this will ramp up with the Premier League sides entering in Round 3. With so many matches accumulators and both teams to score bets are also a fun way to have a punt on this competition

With extra time and penalties you can also bet just on one team advancing from a given tie.

🏆 The Champions league

Every European team’s national champion (except Lichtenstein) qualifies to play (at some stage) in the Champions League and it’s the main footballing league competition on the planet. Originally just played in a simple format between the champions of each country over 2 legs it’s now a sprawling competition including teams finishing as low as 4th in the major Euro leagues with qualifying from July to September before the group stage

Upsets are a bit rarer with the 2 leg set up than in national cups in the early stages but the group and knockout matches really represent the biggest matches you can get other than the world cup, bookies will offer bonuses and full coverage of all the games from the group stage onwards and will often be included on the main landing page of sites.

🏆 The Europa League

Originally known as the UEFA Cup and played between teams who weren’t top of the league at the final standing this is Europes secondary club competition. It's standing has been slightly diminished by the expansion of the Champions League it still remains highly regarded by most top clubs It has a smaller qualifying section but the group and knockout stages are the same size and format as the Champions League.

You’ll find many offers are copied over from the Champions League to the Europa (and their smaller cousin the UEFA Conference League). However though all matches are covered you will likely find less bonuses and offers than the Champions League in line with the lesser status of the competition.

🏆 The European Championship (The Euros)

Every continent has a national team tournament to find the continental champions, the oldest and most well established with the biggest teams is the European version, which is known as the Euros. With the geography supporting a large number of federations and arguably the best world national teams you will find the 4 yearly final stage easy to follow from a betting point of view with offers and promotions running right across the tournament.

The qualifying stages are a group stage followed by playoffs and will get some coverage as well but mainly just the normal interest attached to international matches.

🏆 The World Cup

The global celebration of football is held every 4 years to establish the world’s best team and earn the title of world champions.

Qualifying for the finals tournament is held over a 2 year period preceding the finals and you can bet on all of it! During the qualifying the matches will be treated pretty much as international matches though you can also wager on teams advancing to the next stage

During the world cup all betting sites will have numerous ongoing and match by match promotions, with an estimated 1.8 billion dollars spent on gambling in the US alone on the 2022 World cup it’s big business

There will be a group stage and knockouts, and you can bet on all and everything top goalscorers, match outcomes, in play and all the games will be shown so it’s a great fun way to get involved.

Tips For Football Betting

Where can I Find Football Betting Tips

If you're looking to enhance your football betting strategy, checking out expert football predictions can give you an edge. Our Football Predictions page offers detailed insights, statistics, and forecasts to help you make more informed bets on upcoming matches.