Welcome to our guide to the best football betting sites which takes a look at the UK top bookies for October 2024.
We run the rule over the best sites to bet on football online, analysing which platforms to trust for the best footy odds, product features, free bets and promotions. Note that all sites mentioned have current and valid UKGC licences.
Bet £10 Get £60 In Free Bets
Bet £10 Get £60 In Free Bets
Bet £10, Get £40
Bet £10, Get £40
£50 in Free Bets When You Bet £10
£50 in Free Bets When You Bet £10
£35 Free Bet + 10 Free Spins
£35 Free Bet + 10 Free Spins
Bet £10 & Get £30 in Free Bets for new customers at bet365
Bet £10 & Get £30 in Free Bets for new customers at bet365
Bet £10, Get £30 in Free Bets
Bet £10, Get £30 in Free Bets
Bet £20 and get it back as cash if it loses
Bet £20 and get it back as cash if it loses
Bet £10, Get £20 In Free Bets
Bet £10, Get £20 In Free Bets
Bet £10 Get £30 in Free Football Bet Builders
Bet £10 Get £30 in Free Football Bet Builders
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Skrill
Neteller
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Bank Transfer
Rapidtransfer
MuchBetter
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Bet £10 Get £20 in Free Bets
Every week brings scores of fresh football betting opportunities. Deciding which ones to bet on can sometimes be daunting, so here we spotlight a handful of matches over the next seven days that we’re particularly interested in.
The two biggest matches of this week are the Euro 2024 semi-finals. The first of those will take place on Tuesday at 20:00 when Spain play France. Bet365 has Spain installed as the 13/8 favourite, while France are priced at 21/10. You can get odds of 15/8 about the draw.
On Wednesday at 20:00, the Netherlands will play England. We’re pleased to report that England are the favourites to win, at 8/5, while the Netherlands can be backed at 21/10. Again, if you want to bet on the draw, you can currently get odds of 15/8.
Should you want to bet on any of these four teams to win the competition overall, Spain are available at 2/1, England at 5/2, France at 11/4 and the Netherlands at 9/2.
Another soccer competition nearing its conclusion is the Copa America, which is being hosted in the USA. It has also reached the semi-finals stage, and the first match on Wednesday (01:00 UK time) will see hot tournament favourites Argentina play Canada. The second semi-final is on Thursday (also at 01:00) and involves Columbia and Uruguay. The Final of this tournament will be held on Monday, 15 July at 01:00.
Our betting experts have rated, reviewed and ranked the UK’s top 10 football betting sites. We’ve compared factors such as best odds, free bets and offers, number of markets, best app and features such as Bet Builders to come up with our list.
At number one on our list of the best football betting sites in the UK we have placed BetMGM. As BetMGM was founded in America you may be worrying that their version of football tales priority over UK football, but that is not the case. Football comes number two in the list of popular sports at BetMGM, behind horse racing, with full coverage of all major and most minor competitions, tournaments and match ups.
One thing we have to warn you about football at BetMGM is that eFootball gets mixed in with real football. This doesn’t tarnish the football experience at this site by any degree but be warned that if you find yourself surprised that Arsenal are playing Liverpool at 8 am, it’s probably an eSports battle. At this site you can easily switch between matches and outrights, and another handy switch is provided to filter out all games that are not currently live.
BetMGM is currently the betting partner of EPL sides Manchester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United.
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If you are into football spread betting, then SpreadEx is going to be your number one choice. We feel that more people should explore football spread betting as it rewards you more for accurate predictions. The only downside is that should your predictions be hopelessly wrong, you could lose more than your original stake. Football coverage at Spreadex offers over 300 markets per match (for the bigger games, anyhow), which is exceptional, and some reach 500!
You may be puzzled how there can be over 500 markets on a single football match. Spreadex gets very inventive with its markets, having aspects such as ‘Home Team Goals x Corners x Bookings’, but that doesn’t mean you have to get inventive too! All the common markets such as betting on which side will win (or if it’s a draw), goals scored, bookings and time of first goal are all available if you’d prefer to keep things simple.
Spreadex is the current front-of-shirt sponsor of Sunderland in the Championship, and are the back-of-shirt sponsor of fellow Championship team Cardiff City.
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Spread betting rewards you for accuracy. The more ‘right’ you are with your bet, the more money you will make. Say you think Arsenal will beat West Ham by at least two goals, then you will earn more via a spread bet if they win 4-0 than you would with fixed odds betting. Care needs to be taken though, as you can lose more than your stake if your bet goes awry. If you are new to spread betting, begin with very small stakes.
Betfred is a huge name on the UK gambling scene, which means it is big for football. If you were to head to the Betfred site right now we are willing to bet that the site’s football offerings are up front and central. The site lists that day’s top matches in order of interest to UK punters, so expect the EPL, EFL and Scottish football right at the top, followed by the top leagues in Europe and finally, the rest of the world.
The front page entries for football will just list the ‘1X2’ odds so if you want to explore more extravagant bets, you’ll need to click on the event you are interested in. This will list all the available markets for the event. One thing to look out for is ‘#PickYourPunt’ which are pre-selected bet builders. Some of them will have boosted odds, so if you like the look of the single match aspects that have been made into an acca, then add it to your bet slip to take advantage of that odds boost.
Betfred is the official betting partner of Manchester United and has sponsored Bolton Wanderers and RCD Mallorca in the past. They sponsored the Scottish League Cup from 2016 until 2019.
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Despite QuinnBet’s association with horse racing, we think highly enough of its football offering to hand it a place in our top list of the best football betting sites in the UK. Again, as with most UK sites, football takes centre spot on the QuinnBet home page. You will see the latest matches prioritised, and you can easily switch to live games, upcoming games, outright and the top leagues in the UK. If you prefer wagering on European football then you can switch to the ‘Euro Coupon; which will list all the top games in La Liga, the Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue One and much more.
All matches will have around 150 markets, although games in less popular leagues won’t enjoy so much coverage. There is very little live streaming at QuinnBet (and especially not of UK football), but you can always watch the graphical representations of games that are available to keep in touch with the latest action. QuinnBet also has a bet builder which at this site is called ‘Create-A-Bet’. With the top games you will find some pre-defined Create-A-Bets with slightly enhanced odds.
QuinnBet currently sponsors Dundee United and Hibernian, two of the most historic clubs in Scottish football history.
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Bet365 is simply the biggest betting site in the UK as More people bet at Bet365 than any other site in the UK, It is probably the biggest site for football betting in the UK too, although biggest is not always best. Actually, you won’t find ‘football’ available for betting here at all, as bet365 for some unfathomable reason calls it ‘soccer’. The day’s big games are always listed on the left-hand menu, and once you’ve used bet365 a few times ‘soccer’ will magically appear in the ‘Frequent Visited’ section of the site too, so football bets are never more than a click away.
Bet365 does provide live streaming of football, but only really games in Germany, Holland and many non-European countries. It is able to provide live audio commentary of some games (such as internationals) but not EPL/EFL matches. One neat feature of football betting at bet365 is the ‘Bet Bulider Quick Pick’. If you’re a frequent bet builder you can quickly build your bets with this feature, switching quickly between player bets, result, goals, corners and cards.
Given bet365’s Stoke-on-Trent background, it’ll be no surprise for you to learn that bet365 is the main sponsors of Stoke City and has been since 2012. The club is owned by bet365 and plays at the bet365 Stadium.
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BetUK is a site that always seems hot on football offers. For example, during the 2024 Euros it offered a £1 free bet builder every time that England or Scotland (ahem) won a match. There is also the long-standing weekly football offer that deals you a £5 free bet each and every week if you qualify for it. Just place at least one £10 bet builder bet on any football market (minimum odds Evens) and you will get your free bet for that week.
If you have been paying attention you’ll know we’ve already mentioned BetUK once, as it’s run by LeoVegas, the same people who run BetMGM. This means that the set up, look and feel of BetUK is identical to what is on offer at BetMGM. So we have to warn you again about eFootball matches being mixed in with games that are actually played on grass. If you click ‘All Leagues’ the eFootball menu will collapse and all listed leagues and competitions will appear, with the most popular ones on top of the list. All countries with pro football leagues make it into this menu.
In what must be quite the scoop, BetUK is the official betting partner of the EPL’s dominant side, Manchester City.
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PaddyPower is another site famed more for horse racing but football remains high among its priorities too. The set up of the football section at PaddyPower is somewhat unique and very useful. First up are ‘#WhatOddsPaddy’ specials which are featured bets for which the normal odds have been enhanced. The second section is the site’s most popular accas, that is, accas that have been placed by site users. You can see how many times a particular acca has been backed and then see if you want to take it up yourself.
If you’re a fan of football transfer betting, PaddyPower is the best platform for these markets.
There’s plenty to like about the PaddyPower site, such as their ‘power prices’. These are selected combo bets which, if wagered upon, will give you significantly powered-up odds! They are also one of the very few sites to offer multi-match bet builders!
You can even ask for prices on specific bets – just pop across to X/Twitter or Instagram and tag your offer with #WhatOddsPaddy and you might get a reply. The site will also have a number of pre-defined offers.
PaddyPower has not ventured into football sponsorship very much but they did sponsor Huddersfield Town for the 2019-20 season and uniquely too, by announcing their name would not be on the front of the Terriers’ shirts for that term.
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For many years people have used LiveScore to keep in touch with football events, no matter which event, and where they happen to be. If you wanted to know the latest happenings in any football game, then consulting the LiveScore site was your best choice. You could even set notifications so that if a goal goes in during a match you have a keen interest in, you’d be quickly informed.
LiveScore branched out into sports betting and has created an excellent football betting site. Odds boosts are always available, as is the free-to-play Squads game in which top-notch performances from your elected EPL players really pay you dividends. Just sign in at the LiveScoreBet site to see who has been selected for you – you can be awarded a maximum of five players per week,
The site also has a range of popular bet builders which come pre-selected but you can always build your own too as long as all selections feature in the same match. Many top games get price boosts as well, which will enhance your returns if you choose to wager on them.
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Betfair is by far the most popular exchange betting site available in the UK, and its football coverage is exceptional. You can literally bet on anything at Betfair and if a bet is not available at the site, you can contact the site and they may offer you odds for it. Oh, and just in case exchange betting confuses you, fixed odds betting is available too.
If you are more accustomed to football fixed odds betting then the set up of Betfair may confuse you. If you want to bet on something (‘back’) the odds are in blue. If you want to bet against something (‘lay’) the odds are in pink. If you bet you set your stake. If you lay you set how much you are looking to win. By far the most popular football markets are ‘1×2’, but if you click on any football event you can see all the markets available. Note that at the exchange odds are flexible – you don’t have to take the most popular football odds as other odds may be available, and you can even offer your own odds (although there is no guarantee someone will take your bet).
Football fixed odds betting is a simpler affair. Just click the ‘Sportsbook’ button at the top of the main menu. This site has offers that you won’t find at the exchange, such as popular bet builders and odds boosts. Betfair also pays out early if your bet is winning at the end of 90 minutes, no matter what happens during time added on.
Betfair is a current global partner of Barcelona, and has previously held the same role with Liverpool.
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Exchange betting is so popular because it generates more rewarding odds. Because sites like Betfair don’t have to worry about their margins, they can simply allow their site users to set their own odds. This means you are practically guaranteed the best odds at betting exchanges, no matter the bet you wish to place. The only downsides are you have to pay a small commission on your winning bets (but not enough to lessen the advantages) and the amount of money you can bet is limited by the amount of liquidity that’s available.
Virgin Bet is the sister site of LiveScore Bet, which we have already mentioned. Football is the top drawer for punters at Virgin Bet, and you can easily switch between the day’s most popular bets and all leagues and competitions with the click of a mouse. You can also select matches that are available for live streaming at the site, upcoming games, games from the world’s biggest leagues, international games and games that will be televised (on terrestrial or satellite TV, not at Virgin Bet).
You can also check out the site’s price boosts at any time, and the extensive football in-play markets. Virgin Bet also has the free-to-enter FIVES game, which – to be fair – is LiveScore Bet’s SQUADS game, just with a different name! More people play FIVES than SQUADS though, as Virgin Bet has annual payouts for this free-to-play game topping £4 million.
VirginBet also offers daily price boosts and you can watch football matches at this site (and via the app) for free – although don’t expect to be able to watch EPL or UCL matches, or England games. Like its sister site LiveScore Bet, VirginBet is a football statto’s dream so if you’re a football number cruncher you can really enhance your betting game with stats.
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To compile our 10 top football betting sites, we’ve looked at multiple aspects of every UK bookmaker. Here’s the criteria we use to choose our best online betting sites for football.
An important ranking factor is to look at which site has the best football odds. While free bets and bookie bonuses get football fans through the door, we’re looking for sites that offer value long-term.
Live football betting has never been more popular as fans increasingly look to bet on the go from their iPhone or Android devices. Therefore, we consider the best sites for in-play football betting as a key part of our review criteria.
Football Bet builders are big business and now pretty much all the top UK football betting sites offer them. Bet builders let fans completely customise their bet with same-game selections on everything from passes completed, to red cards and goals from outside the box.
Accumulators – or accas – are often the main reason fans bet on football online. To find the best site for football accumulators, we look at how easy it is to quickly build accas, best acca odds and bookmaker offers such as acca insurance or acca boost.
This criteria looks at the breadth and depth of each bookie’s offering. We’re looking for a wide range of competitions and matches to bet on but also a deep offering of market type, such as player props, outrights, specials and stats betting.
An estimated 70% of online betting revenue came via mobile devices in 2020, meaning football bookmakers that don’t offer a slick mobile experience are missing out badly. Our rating system judges the best apps to bet on football, looking at user experience, reliability, speed and many other factors.
Getting money into and out of your account is a priority for football bettors. We take into account the betting sites with easy deposit and withdrawal flows, including choice of payment methods, time taken to process withdrawals and security.
If you cash out a bet, you can take the returns currently offered by the site before the market has closed. If it’s a winning bet, you can lock in your winnings. If it’s a losing bet, you can recover a percentage of your losses. We feel that cash out is a crucial aspect of any leading football betting site, especially in tandem with live betting
No bookie review would be complete without a look at the promotions and offers, including free bets and bonuses. We consider new customer offers but also existing customer bonuses when picking our top football betting websites.
Sites are now able to offer multiple tools that should help you gamble safely. These include time-specific deposit limits, maximum stake limits, reality checks, time-outs and even self-exclusion. A site should also offer advice on how to gamble responsibly and links to external gambling help services.
There seems to be a sad trend of late in which the bots are taking over online football betting sites’ customer live chat. We prefer sites that get you to a real person to help you out as speedily as possible, bypassing bots altogether if possible. Other contact options such as email addresses and phone numbers are also good to see.
Last but certainly not least is a look at the betting sites for football you can trust. All the bookies in our reviews are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission.
At Safest Betting Sites we have an experienced award-winning team of football betting industry experts, who have reviewed and rated hundreds of UK bookies over the years. We don’t mean to brag, but we really do know what we are talking about. Most of us like the Saturday acca at the bare minimum, but we all have experience in placing or best football bets. We are always looking for new football betting sites too, as we like to keep on top of the UK football betting industry.
It’s our aim therefore to be the kind of football betting information site that we would like to find ourselves. We’d want news on new sites, plus information about the latest deals, bonuses and promotions from established bookies, and useful advice on football betting strategy. It’s our aim to be so useful to the average football betting punter, that such people head back to our site, time and time again.
We want to be number one, and we can only do that if we establish a genuine sensation of trust, which is precisely what we always strive to do.
Whether it’s a new football betting site or an established brand, almost all bookies offer bonuses such as free bets. Football betting bonuses are typically created to attract new customers but many bookmakers have existing customer offers to keep their players betting on football.
Compare the best football betting offers, with details and promo codes of the UK’s top 10 sites.
Bookie | Free Bet / Bonus | Promo Code |
BetMGM | Bet £10, Get £40 | No code needed |
SpreadEx | Bet £10, Get £40 | No code needed |
Betfred | Bet £10, Get £40 | WELCOME40 |
QuinnBet | £35 Free Bet + 10 Free Spins | No code needed |
Bet365 | Bet £10, Get £30 | No code needed |
BetUK | Bet £10, Get £30 | No code needed |
Paddy Power | £20 losing bet refund | YSKWEX |
LiveScore Bet | Bet £10, Get £20 | No code needed |
Betfair | Bet £10, Get £30 | ZSKAHD |
Virgin Bet | Bet £10, Get £20 | No code needed |
Here’s some examples of football betting offers for new customers:
Many bookies also offer existing customer bonuses in an effort to retain your loyalty and keep you playing. Sometimes referred to as “reload offers”, here are some examples of the types of existing customer offers from UK bookies.
When opening an account with a new football bookie in the UK, you’ll almost always be able to claim a bonus.
Browse offers in our list of top football betting sites and check if you need a promo code – usually, you don’t. Then it’s as simple as following the steps to get your free football bet added to your account. Typically the flow looks like this:
Sometimes you will have to wait for your free football bet to be credited but if you are in any doubt, contact the bookie’s customer support.
Depending on the bookmaker and the offer, your bonus will vary. It might be a single free bet, it could be split into smaller free bets such as 4x £5 or even a bundle of different bet types such as £5 free football bet and 50 free casino spins.
In-play football betting is offered by pretty much all UK football betting sites. As the name suggested, it’s a feature that offers live football betting while the match is ongoing. Depending on the football betting app or site you’re using, the options will vary.
Some bookies offer a rich in-play betting experience that almost mirrors their pre-match offering, whereas some only provide a limited selection of in-play markets, such as the next goalscorer or match result.
The best sites for in-play football betting also provide stats and graphic visualisations in close-to real time, meaning you can follow the action closely even if you’re not able to watch the game.
And then there are live streams – many competitions have deals with UK football betting apps to provide live streams of matches embedded in the betting experience.
Football Bet Builders are big business in the industry these days, with most UK bookies introducing the feature since around 2021.
Depending on the bookie you’re with, the name will vary – whether it’s Build-a-Bet, Create-A-Bet, Bet Builder, they’re essentially the same thing. The option to combine same-game multiples into a single bet. Some sites have expanded to include multi-game Bet Builders.
The options are vast, with selections ranging from player props such as “to have a shot on target” to team totals such as “more than 4 bookings”. Some top UK football betting sites also offer the option to combine multiple Bet Builders into your football accumulator.
You can enhance the returns from your winning bets with a Bet Builder. Instead of placing straight bets, combine your bets with other aspects of the same match to create your unique bet. Even if the odds of each separate bet are tight, the overall odds will be much better than betting on each aspect individually. One word of warning though – keep your bet builders down to three or four individual selections. The more aspects you add, the less likely your bet builder is to generate a return.
Any bet you’ve placed at a football betting site should be available to cash out, no matter when you placed your bet, and if the event itself has started or not. To cash out a bet, where available, just search for it among your betting history, usually among ‘unsettled bets’. If cash out is available, then your potential cash out returns will be indicated (which will be less than your ‘market closed’ returns) along with a button marked ‘cash out’. Click the button and confirm you want to cash out if that is your desire.
The addition of player props and stats betting means the best football betting apps and sites offer hundreds of markets on matches in most of the top leagues.
One thing to bear in mind is that most football betting markets apply to regular time only – not including extra time or penalties unless stated otherwise.
Here’s our guide to the top betting markets offered by all UK football betting sites.
The match result is the straightforward, go-to market and it’s often called ‘1X2’ at online football bookies. It’s just a bet on the final outcome of a match.
This player market lets you bet on the first goalscorer, last goalscorer, or a player to score at any time during the match. There are also markets such as “to score a hat-trick” and “to score twice”.
Correct score is one of the most straightforward football betting markets. Just predict the exact score at the end of the match.
Short for ‘both teams to score,’ with BTTS, you decide ‘yes’ or ‘no’ based on your preference. There are also BTTS markets for each half of the game.
Over/Under can be applied to various scenarios. Usually, a line is set on goals, corners, or cards. Simply choose whether there will be more or less than the line set by the bookie.
Double chance lets you bet on two outcomes of a match. For example, one side to win or draw, making either result a winner for your bet.
Handicap betting involves the bookmaker giving one team an advantage or disadvantage to level the playing field. For example, if Team A has a -1 handicap, they must win by two or more goals for your handicap bet to win.
HT/FT lets you combine the result at half-time with the full-time outcome. For instance, if a team is expected to dominate, you can back them to lead at both half-time and full-time.
Pro gamblers might spend hours seated in front of their PCs searching out the best football betting odds for their predictions. But that’s not something we don’t have the time to do, and we suspect it might be something that you don’t want to do either! To this end, we always look for sites where the mobile betting betting experience is exceptional.
All the top football betting sites make their mobile-optimised version of their site an exceptional, user-friendly experience. We champion those that make mobile betting simple, speedy and rewarding. If a site has a downloadable app that you can install to your iOS or Android-powered phone or tablet, then that’s cause for a Peter Crouch-style robot dance!
The best football betting apps on iPhone and Android devices now match or better their desktop equivalents, with purpose-built products offering a great user experience. Features supported by the top football betting apps include:
Unsurprisingly, Premier League betting is by far the most popular choice among UK fans but there are competitions all over the world and throughout the year to enjoy. Here’s a quick overview of some of the most popular.
England
Spain
Germany
Italy
France
Argentina
Brazil
Netherlands
Portugal
New to football betting? Want to get some top tips on how to get the most out of your football betting endeavours? Then you’ll hit the back of an onion bag with these tried and tested nuggets of advice when betting on football.
It’s no surprise that there are so many football bookmakers catering to fans of Britain’s favourite sport. What might have surprised you is just how good the best football betting sites are. For example, the American brand BetMGM has adapted beautifully to the British market, and the other sites featured here are similarly impressive. Have fun picking your teams and good luck with your bets!
Bet £10 Get £60 In Free Bets
Bet £10 Get £60 In Free Bets
The best new football betting websites in the UK include BetMGM, BetUK and Fitzdares. These are already among the best football betting sites in the UK.
You can tell if a UK betting site is trustworthy as it will have a UK Gambling Commission licence.
No, all UKGC licensed bookmakers need to verify your account with ID, especially if you want to make a withdrawal.
Choose any of the sites on our top ten list of the best online football betting sites and create an account. Register a suitable payment method such as a debit card and then make a deposit. Find a match that you want to bet on, and click on the odds of your selected outcome. The odds will transfer to your betting slip and then you can set your stake. When everything is to your satisfaction, click the ‘place bet’ button.
You can but don’t expect to stream EPL and UCL matches, as they are tied up with terrestrial media deals. You’ll be able to stream European football leagues (non-UK) at sites that do have football betting streaming.
Peter is one of the most well-known and well-respected names working in the field of online sports betting today. Having a Bachelor of Arts degree, Peter has worked for many high-profile publications in the industry, both online and in the real world. He joined the SafestBettingSites team in 2021 and has provided millions of words ever since. When not writing, Peter enjoys performing and writing music, gaming, reading and he is a massive movie buff, with a particular love of Japanese cinema and anime.
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