Best Football Betting Sites in the UK 2024

16 December 2024

Vince Holm

Vince Holm

Betting Expert

Vince is a highly-experienced writer, with a focus on sports betting content. His specialties include sportsbook reviews and betting tips. A keen football fan, he also loves analysing and writing about the beautiful game.

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Michael Lee

Michael Lee

Betting Expert

Michael has worked in the sports betting industry for many years. Following football, horse racing and track and field athletics, he has covered the last three Olympic Games, World Cups and other major sporting events.

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We independently review betting sites. Sign-ups through our links may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you, this never influences our listings’ order.

Football is the biggest betting market in the UK. Punters are spoilt for choice with a highly extensive range of football betting sites to choose from. 

In this article, we not only rank and review top football bookmakers but also give you tips on turning a profit, reveal the best football betting markets, discuss the top bonuses you can claim, and give plenty more advice on how to bet on football. 

Best Football Betting Sites in the UK

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BetUK

Bet £10, Get £30 in Free Bets

9.8/10

Review

Expert rating by Vince H.

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Apply your code at BetUK and enjoy your new bonus

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Regulator

UKGC

License No.

39198

What we like

• Excellent welcome offer
• Get five profit boosts each week
• Top-notch free bet club

• Casino
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• Betting App
• Odds Boosts
• BOG
• Extra Places

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£10

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£10

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T&Cs apply. New cust only. Deposit & Place a Bet within 7 days, and settle a £10 minimum bet at odds of 4/5 (1.8) or greater, to be credited with 3x £10 Free Bets: 1 x £10 Horse Racing, 1 x £10 Free Bet Builder and 1 x £10 Football. 7 day expiry. Stake not returned. 18+ begambleaware.org

BetStorm

Bet £10 Get £30 Free Bet

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BET30

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9.7/10

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Expert rating by Vince H.

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UKGC

License No.

39335

What we like

• Competitive leaderboards
• Cashback deals on your football betting
• Highly-rewarding VIP program

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New players only. Minimum stake £ 10, minimum odds 2, stake not returned. 1X wagering the winnings from the free bet. Wagering occurs from real balance first. Wagering requirement is calculated on bonus bets only, wagering starts from real funds. Free bet is valid for 7 days from issue. Max conversion: £ 200. Excluded Skrill deposits. Withdrawal requests voids all active/pending bonuses. Full Terms Apply

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Spreadex

Bet £10 Get £40 in Free Bets

9.6/10

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Expert rating by Ryan S.

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License No.

8835

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• Massive welcome offer
• Refer a friend deal
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18+ begambleaware.org. Spread betting losses can exceed deposit. Place a qualifying £10 fixed odds bet at odds of 1/2 or greater. Qualifying bet cannot be placed in-play or cashed out early. Free bet stakes not included in any winnings from the free fixed odds bets. Free bets expire in 28 days if unused.

Betfred

Get £50 in Free Bets When You Bet £10

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UKGC

License No.

39544

What we like

• Double Delight and Hat Trick Heaven offers
• Brilliant football betting app
• Acca insurance deal for football

• Casino
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New 18+ UK customers only. Register with SUMMER50 between 31/05/24 – 14/07/24. First bet £10+ at Evens (2.0)+ on Sports within 7 days to get 3 x £10 in Sports Free Bets & 2 x £10 in Acca Free Bets within 10 hours of settlement. 7-day expiry. Eligibility & payment exclusions apply. Full T&Cs apply.

888Sport

Bet £10, Get £30 Free Bet + £10 Casino Bonus

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UKGC

License No.

39028

What we like

• ‘Acca Club’ for constant free bets
• Free-to-play game worth up to £10,000
• Big selection of boosted odds

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#ad • 18+ • New customer offer • Min deposit £10 with promo code: GET40 • A qualifying bet is a ‘real money’ stake of at least £10 using Bet Builder • Min odds 2/1 (3.0) • Free Bets credited upon qualifying bet settlement, expire after 3 days and valid for football markets only • Free Bet stakes not included in returns • Withdrawal restrictions, payment methods, country & full T&C’s apply.• BeGambleAware

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The Best Football Bookmakers for 2024

1. BetUK – Bet £10, Get £30 in Free Bets
2. Spreadex – 2 x £5 Free Bets, Plus £300 in Cashback
3. Betfred – Bet £10, Get £30 in Free Bets 
4. 888sport – Bet £10, Get £30 in Free Bets
5. 10Bet – 50% Deposit Match, Worth up to £50
6. BoyleSports – Get Up to £25 in Free Bets 
7. betway – £30 Matched Free Bet if First Acca Loses
8. Kwiff – Bet £10, Get £20 Surprise Bet

Best Football Fixtures This Week (December 16 to 22, 2024)

We start the week with a nice Premier League matchup between Bournemouth and West Ham at the Vitality Stadium. The Cherries have exceeded expectations this season, sitting in 7th place in the table with a game in hand. A win would move Bournemouth just one point off a Champions League place heading into the Christmas period.

There’s no Champions League to be played until January, meaning domestic and cup matches are on the menu instead. You can watch four Carabao Cup ties starting with Arsenal vs Crystal Palace and finishing with Spurs vs Man Utd on Wednesday and Thursday. There is some UEFA Europa Conference League business to settle on Thursday, too, with Chelsea hosting Dublin side Shamrock Rovers at Stamford Bridge.

The weekend is chock full of top quality clashes in the Premier League and around the continent. Barcelona vs Atletico, Bayern Munich vs Leipzig, and Spurs vs Liverpool are just three to watch.

Here’s our pick of the best football fixtures for this week.

Top 5 Football Betting Sites Reviewed

As noted, there are a whole lot of options when you’re looking for football betting sites in the UK. We’ve already narrowed those options down to 10 brands, but the five bookies below really are the very best football betting sites.

1. BetUK

You might be surprised to see a relatively little-known bookie atop our rankings of the best football betting sites. Start using BetUK for yourself, however, and that surprise will quickly disappear.  They have a great bet 10 get 30 deal for new customers to start you off.

BetUK might only have launched in 2018, but it already outclasses much older bookies in several respects. For starters, the platform doesn’t just look fantastic, but is extremely user-friendly. It houses a formidable range of football betting markets, and even provides punters with tips courtesy of former player Teddy Sheringham. Add in solid customer service, a strong welcome offer, constant specials markets, user-determined profit boosts, and an acca club… and it’s pretty easy to see how BetUK tops our list of the best football betting sites.

2. SpreadEx

All the other football betting sites we’ve listed here focus exclusively on regular, fixed odds gambling. If you’re looking for something truly different with your football betting in the UK, look no further than SpreadEx. 

The focus here is on spread betting, rather than its fixed odds counterpart. In short, this rewards you for ‘how correct’ your picks are, with the possibility to make some truly sizable profits if you nail a great wager. Your options for doing so are extremely wide, but – if you do want to mix in some fixed odds bets – SpreadEx also gives you this option. In addition you get access to one of the biggest welcome offers around, which is subsequently backed up by an excellent football insurance promo, a refer-a-friend deal, and more.

3. Betfred

Betfred is easily one of the biggest betting brands in the UK. Its history stretches all the way back to 1967, but it’s done a brilliant job of moving with the times. 

In its current iteration, it’s easily one of the best platforms for football betting in the UK. The selection of markets is fantastic, and the football betting odds for many of those markets are boosted each day. There are some great football betting offers here too, including the famous Double Delight and Hat Trick Heaven deals which boost your winnings on goalscorer picks. Finally, special mention must be given to the mobile features, with Betfred providing one of the very best apps around for betting on football.  

4. 888sport

In terms of sheer prestige, 888sport is one of the few football betting sites which can compete with Betfred. Its track record isn’t quite as long, but still goes back to 2008, and it’s easily one of the best-regarded sportsbooks in the UK. 

888sport provides an enormous range of football betting odds, as you’d expect, and is particularly strong when it comes to live football betting. Most excitingly, it also has one of the best selections of football betting offers around. Users here can enjoy an acca club, free-to-play football game, odds boosts, and more. Finally, 888sport also provides an excellent betting app for football which lets you stream the action live. 

5. 10Bet

Launched in 2003, 10Bet ticks all the boxes when it comes to the best football betting sites UK. The sportsbook is well-known for its extensive betting options across numerous markets, earning it a spot among the top sportsbooks in the UK. The site currently features odds for over 40 different sports, but its reputation for comprehensive coverage of football leagues like the Premier League and La Liga has made 10bet a household name.

Besides its huge markets and betting lines, the sportsbook’s status as one of the best fast withdrawal bookies is well known. You can also adjust 10Bet’s betting odds, currency, and deposit limit to your preference. Even better, if football betting is something you do frequently, you’ll be pleased to know that 10Bet regularly runs promotions offering free wagers on a wide range of major events. In addition to offering £5 free bets if a striker scores, 10Bet also lets you join The Ten Club, a VIP club that offers regular prizes to existing bettors.

A welcome bonus is a great way to kickstart your way to bankroll management in sports betting, and luckily, 10Bet makes it easy to get your hands on theirs right away. Finally, if you’re looking for a trustworthy bookmaker that cares about your safety, 10Bet is highly recommended as their site is SSL encrypted and licensed by the UKGC and the gambling authorities of Malta, Ireland, and Sweden.

The Best Football Betting Sites Compared 2024

To a large extent, all of our recommended football betting sites qualify as all-rounders. That said, each brand also obviously has its own particular strengths. If live betting is your priority, we’ve got good news for you – all of our recommended online football betting sites let you both place and cash out in-play wagers. The majority also carry a bet builder – which simplifies the process of creating same-game multiples – and accumulator offers are also pleasingly common.

Below, you can see how all of our 10 online football betting sites stack up when it comes to these special features.

Bookmaker	Cash Out	Acca Offers	Live Betting	Virtual Football	Bet Builder
BetUK
SpreadEx
Betfred
888sport
10Bet
BoyleSports
Betway
Kwiff

How Football Betting Odds Work and Where to Find the Best Odds in Football Betting

It’s imperative that you understand how football betting odds actually work. This will help you not only get the most out of your gambling, but recognise the best value when it comes to seeking new betting opportunities.

Sheer probability does play a part here. You should also be aware, however, that there are a few other factors. One is the vig, or overround, which bookies insert into their prices. This takes the implied probabilities over 100%, and – in the process – ensures that the betting sites make long-term profits. Another is the market action, since bookies will raise or lower their odds depending on how many bettors are piling in one side.

Generally-speaking, all of our 10 recommended brands offer good football betting odds. That said, the trio below really do stand out from the crowd.

Football Betting Markets

The world truly is your oyster when it comes to gambling on the beautiful game, whether you’re looking for pre-match picks or live football betting opportunities. Below, we’ve split your many options into three main categories, before giving you some extra football betting tips at the end.

Team-Based Bets

This is the category which features the widest choice of betting markets. As the name suggests, it’s about wagering on an outcome in which an entire team – or both teams – are involved. The most common example is the classic Match Result, but the likes of Both Teams to Score and Over/Under Goals are also relatively safe picks. Team-based wagers – especially Match Result picks – also form the foundation of most football accumulator betting.

Player Props

If you want to get a little more specific with your pre-match or live football betting, player props are a great way to do so. Instead of betting on an entire team, you’re picking the outcome of one player’s actions in a particular match. Anytime Goalscorer is the most obvious choice, but you can also bet on First or Second Goalscorer, To Be Carded, and so on.

Outright Bets

If you prefer long-term betting picks, outrights are the best option for you. These wagers cover an entire competition, whether that be a league or cup, and markets open long before the contest actually kicks off. Outright Winner is the most straightforward example, while Top Goalscorer is another great pick.

Best Markets for Making a Profit in Football Betting

We already gave you a few football betting tips, but we’d also like to highlight a few particular markets for you.

When you’re just getting started, we’d highly recommend sticking to Match Result wagers. These are both the simplest wagers you can place, and get the majority of football betting predictions and tips. After that, while you should still base your strategy around lower-risk markets like Over/Under Goals, it’s certainly worthwhile mixing in a few dicier picks. Do remember to lower your stakes as you do so, however.

Best Football Betting Offers and Promotions

Even the best football betting offers won’t be a ‘silver bullet’ to success. That said, if you use them smartly, high quality deals can certainly boost your chances of turning a profit. Below, we’ve covered the three most popular types of football betting promotions.

Welcome Offers

Sign up deals deliver the biggest bonuses by far. The only drawback, naturally, is that they can only be triggered once, the very first time you create an account.

The most common type of welcome offer in UK football betting is the ‘Bet and Get’ deal. This involves placing a qualifying wager, then receiving free bets in return. A strong alternative, however, is the Deposit Match, in which your first deposit with a bookie is ‘matched’ in the form of a bonus.

Acca Deals

Even if it’s not the most sensible way to wager, football accumulator betting is enormously popular in the UK. There are two main types of offers which will help you out with this.

The first is the Acca Boost. As you might guess, this boosts your winnings on successful football accumulators, with the size of the boost depending on the number of selections. The second is Acca Insurance. With this in place, if just one leg of your acca fails, you’ll be given a refund rather than losing your stake.

Free Bet Promos

Any time you can grab a free bet in your football betting, we’d recommend doing so. The fact that these tokens can be used to place wagers definitely helps your cash balance go further.

UK bookies provide plenty of ways to get free bets. Our favourite, however, is the Free Bet Club. Specifics vary from brand to brand, but – in general – joining will involve placing wagers totalling a certain amount within a week, and getting a free bet in return.

How We Rate and Rank UK Football Betting Offers

British sportsbooks are awash with special offers. The vast majority of these can be used in conjunction with your football betting, and many bookies also provide football-specific deals. Read on to learn how we ranked your many options here.

What is Live Football Betting?

Football in-play betting offers a fascinating alternative to its traditional, pre-match counterpart. For many punters, in fact, it has become their dominant way in which to wager. Broadly speaking, there are two main components of football in-play betting.

The first is the actual placement of wagers. From the moment a game kicks off, the markets on a sportsbook will change to in-play betting only. This will always mean you have fewer options than you do pre-match. The trade-off, of course, is that you have more information, since you can see for yourself (by watching along, or via live stats) how a game is going.

The second is cashing out in-play bets. This can be done to either lock in some early profits, or bail on a bet that’s going badly. Knowing when to cash out – based on the price you’re being offered at a given moment – is an art of itself.

Finally, if you’re serious about your football in-play betting, we can’t recommend actually watching the games highly enough. Ideally, you’ll do so via the same bookie you use to place wagers, with the likes of 888sport, Betway, and Betfred all providing live streams.

Top Betting Apps for Football

The mobile revolution had a huge impact on sports betting, including for football fans. Nowadays, many punters prefer to use a betting app for football rather than a desktop site.

It’s easy to see why. A betting app for football offers a huge amount of convenience, giving you the freedom to place wagers wherever and whenever you please. There’s also basically no downside, since all the same betting markets, promotions, customer service options, and so on will invariably be ported over from the desktop site.

The quality of football betting apps and mobile sites among our recommended brands is uniformly high. That said, this trio still manages to stand out from the crowd:

• Betfred – Bet £10, Get £30 in Free Bets 
• 888sport – Bet £10, Get £30 in Free Bets
• Betway – £30 Matched Free Bet if First Acca Loses

How to Place a Bet at Football Betting Sites

Whether you’re into football accumulator betting, handicap football betting, or any other form of gambling on the beautiful game, getting started is incredibly easy. These are the few steps you must take to do so.

Step 1 – Create an Account

Technically, your very first step should be to pick one of our recommended football betting sites. Once you’ve done that, however, you can head straight to its home page, and hit the Create Account button in the top-right. After that simply provide all the necessary personal information, set your username and password, and finish creating your account.

Step 2 – Make a Deposit

Before you can begin your football betting, you obviously need some money in your account. Make sure you’re logged in, then hit the Deposit button in the top-right. Now simply pick a payment method, enter the amount you wish to deposit, provide the requisite payment details, and confirm the transaction.

Step 3 – Place Football Wagers

With your account funded, it’s time to get on with some football betting. Go to the main sportsbook section, and select Football from the list on the left-hand side. Browse through the huge range of competitions, find a matchup and bet type you like, add a selection to your betslip, set a stake, and confirm the wager. Then, simply repeat the process as often as you please.

Step 4 – Verify Your Identity

Before withdrawing from your football betting account, you’ll need to verify your identity. To do so, get clear images of two pieces of ID (such as a driving license and utility bill), and submit them via either the bookie’s document uploader tool or live chat.

Step 5 – Withdraw Your Winnings

After your identity is verified – which should take less than 24 hours – you can start withdrawing winnings from your account. Head back to the Cashier section, select Withdrawal, pick a payment method, enter the amount you wish to cash out, and confirm the payment request.

Football Leagues and Competitions You Can Bet on 2024

All of the sites recommended here will provide you with an absolutely enormous range of football betting options. At any given point in a day, you’ll typically find 1,000 or more individual wagers to choose between, from tournaments all around the world. For British punters, however, we believe that the competitions below will be of the most interest.

Premier League

The English Premier League is the biggest domestic competition in world football. Unsurprisingly, therefore, it also draws more attention from bettors and sportsbooks alike than any other.

A single Premier League matchup will likely present you with hundreds of pre-match betting options. There are also more choices than usual when it comes to outright markets, with the likes of Top Four Finish and Top Six Finish sitting alongside the usual suspects.

La Liga

The Spanish top flight still boasts plenty of star power, which has helped to retain its popularity among punters in the UK and further afield. Naturally every matchup will be covered, although games won’t feature quite as many options as in the Premier League. You’ll also be slightly more limited when it comes to outright wagers, although the likes of Outright Winner and Top Goalscorer will usually be available.

Serie A

At the time of writing, the Serie A title race is the most open of the five major European leagues. This has been the case for a few years now, making Serie A the most fun competition on which to place an outright wager. Admittedly it lacks the star power of the two aforementioned leagues, but it arguably has a greater amount of unpredictability, which – for the savvy punter – means plenty of opportunities for profit.

Bundesliga

Outright Winner is basically a write-off in the Bundesliga, with Bayern Munich essentially guaranteed to win the title each year. Their dominance of German football, however, still actually presents an opportunity for bettors. Backing Bayern to not only win, but win comfortably, is usually a safe pick, and the Bavarian giants are also a great anchor for your European football accumulators.

Champions League

The Champions League is undoubtedly the most prestigious contest in club football. The group stages tend to be fairly predictable, giving bettors plenty of chances for safer singles bets and accumulators. The latter knockout stages, however, are often finely-balanced, which – in turn – means you can get solid odds for Match Result wagers.

World Cup

The World Cup generates an enormous amount of attention when it rolls around every four years, from football fans and bettors alike. Outright markets open months in advance, with punters able to wager on everything from Group Winner through to Outright Winner and Top Goalscorer. As with the Champions League, you can also look to place safer wagers during the group stages, then take a few more chances in the knockout rounds.

Other International Tournaments

Away from the World Cup, there is also the European Championship or Euros. That is held every four years, and so are Olympic football tournaments for men and women. These work differently as senior players are restricted and the majority of squads are under-23. Check out Olympics betting sites for markets on the Paris Games of 2024. There is also the Copa America in South America, Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and Asia Cup in other FIFA confederations.

Online Football Betting in 2024

It’s not just the range of competitions which offer you plenty of variety in your football betting. You also get plenty of scope for creativity through the available bet types.

Handicap Football Betting

In football betting, there will be times when you really want to wager on a matchup, but the odds simply aren’t good enough. This is when a handicap football betting strategy can be invaluable.

With it, you can basically bet on a game which – for the purposes of your wager – starts with a ‘fake’ score, which one team must then overcome. If Man City are massive favourites over Bournemouth, for example, you might start them off on -2 goals to secure good odds, and hope they win by three goals or more.

Football Accumulator Betting

The mighty accumulator isn’t always the smartest pick. That said, it’s certainly one of the most popular bet types, and can be one of the most lucrative too.

Rather than wagering on just one result, football accumulator betting sees you wagering on the outcomes of multiple games. Most commonly you’ll do so via Match Results, but – if you want some truly astronomical odds – you can use Correct Score instead. Either way, all your selections must come in for the overall bet to triumph.

Football Transfers Betting

Football transfer betting has become increasingly popular over the last decade or so. As the name suggests, it involves predicting which club a particular player will move to; or, indeed, whether he’ll simply stay at his current side. Bookies will limit the number of players you can actually place this wager on, however, with only the biggest names usually being eligible.

Football Pool Betting

Ever since Littlewoods introduced their football pools in 1923, they’ve had a cult following. The days of filling out boxes on coupons with a pen have evolved into online pool betting on football that goes way beyond the weekend match results. You can team up with others and form syndicates to share the wealth or play alone.

Final Thoughts

There’s never been a better time to wager on the beautiful game, and it’s not even close. Punters in the UK nowadays have access to an enormous range of football betting sites, bet types, special features, promotions, and essentially anything else they can dream of.

After reading this article, you’re fully equipped to begin your own football betting journey. All you need to do now is pick one of our recommended brands, create an account, grab the bookie’s welcome offer, and start having fun.

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Vince Holm

Betting Expert

Vince Holm

Betting Expert

Vince is a highly-experienced writer, with a focus on sports betting content. His specialties include sportsbook reviews and betting tips. A keen football fan, he also loves analysing and writing about the beautiful game.

All posts by Vince Holm