Football is the most popular sport in the United Kingdom and is also the most popular sport to bet on. The football betting industry is huge with thousands of bets placed every week on games from the top league across the world. Bookmakers target a share of the business by offering a long list of exciting markets, including match winner, both teams to score, total goals, correct score, first goalscorer and plenty more besides.
As well as game to game betting there’s also an opportunity to make predictions on the outright winners of league and competitions. Specials include top four betting, relegation, to finish bottom and more. Modern football betting even allows punters to predict the next manager to lose their job. There really is something for everyone and members have never had so much choice.
On top of the long list of eye-catching football betting markets, there are also tons of promotions designed to entice you into making a bet or registering with a new bookmaker. The best of these promotions are usually reserved for new customers and come in many shapes and sizes. The most popular new player promo is the free bet or matched free bet. An example of this may be bet £10 and get a £10 free bet on football. Others may be enhanced odds, money back deals or even risk-free bets on the beautiful game. Keep your eyes out for the best new player bonuses.
In this section, we focus on the inner workings of football betting and what’s going on behind the attractive big prices, promotions and competitions. It’s designed both to educate our readers on football betting to ensure they have a proper understanding of the market, and to recognise the terms and conditions before parting with their hard-earned cash to make a bet. The more information you have on the subject the smarter gambler you will be and the better the chance of you landing a profit.
Modern online bookmakers allow customers to bet on every major league and competition as well as lesser-known divisions from around the world.
There’s always a game just about to kick-off somewhere on planet football and that means a bet is always possible. There’s also in-play betting which allows you to gamble on the outcome of games that have already begun.
Below you’ll find some of the most popular competitions to bet on. You can also view our in depth pages about these by clicking the links below:
There are many rules and regulations attached to football betting that the majority of backers don’t fully understand. That can lead to confusion and frustration in certain circumstances and a lack of understanding could even end up costing you the stake money of your bet.
Below you’ll find a brief explanation on some of the more popular football betting rules:
Void bets – if a match is postponed, what happens to your bet? If you have placed a single bet on a game that is called off for whatever reason, then the fixture must be fulfilled within 24 hours or the bet will be void and your stakes return. In most cases, the game will be moved to a few days later but check the schedule as some matches are played 24 hours later.
If a leg of your accumulator bet comes void, then the Acca stands but without that team. For example, if you have placed a four-team accumulator and one game is called off it then becomes a treble. This won’t affect your stake, but it will change your potential winnings.
No goalscorer bets – A bet on a 0-0 is a foolish gamble and that’s something not a lot of bettors realise. The reason for that is the no goalscorer bet is almost the same thing but with the safety net of an OG. Own goals don’t count towards the first goalscorer. If you bet 0-0 correct score and there’s an own goal, your bet will lose because the score will then be 1-0. If you back no goalscorer and there’s an OG it won’t count, and your bet will be paid out as a winner. That’s because the bookies don’t recognise own goals in the first scorer market. Keep that one in mind.
Goalscorer decisions – Sometimes you will back a goalscorer bet but there will be a debate over who is credited with the goal. Was it your player, did the ball touch a teammate on the way to goal or was it an own goal? There are many ways your bet can change. Bookmakers go on the final decision of who was awarded the goal and that call isn’t made by them. It may even take several hours for a final decision to be made and your bet will be on hold until then.
Related bets – For a long time, you weren’t allowed to make related bets on football matches. For example, you couldn’t place bets on a player to score and both teams to score as a single as one outcome would change the chances of the other winning. That was a source of frustration for backers but all that has changed with the new bet builder feature.
You can now make many selections from the same match and add them to an accumulator. For example, you could bet a team to win, a player to score, final score, bookings, total goals and more. This gives the better a wide interest in the one fixture and is seen as a real value for money bet.
We rate and review all the major UK facing bookies, almost all of them have very strong football offerings. Due to our close working relationship with many of these brands we are able to bring you their short term enhanced odds for the football and plenty of other sports besides.
You’ll find these featured both above and on our homepage. The menu above will also take you to our review section where you can read up on the best UK bookies to trust with your money.
The English League Cup has been known by many different names throughout its existence due to changing official sponsors, but the format has remained untouched for many years. The EFL Cup, as it was referred to at the start of …
The 2020 European Championship football tournament will go down in history, not least of all because it will be played 12 months later than originally scheduled in the summer of 2021. This was the case for several major sports competitions, …
The Europa League is followed by football supporters in Europa and beyond. UEFA’s second-string competition behind the Champions League, it hands clubs several non-title winning teams across the continent a chance to taste glory and become champions of Europe. In …
The Champions League is the main competition for European football clubs organised by UEFA. It was once designed to be a tournament for clubs winning major leagues across Europe with the aim of finding the best team on the continent …
The FA Cup is the favourite cup competition in England and remains one of the best-loved knockout football competitions in the world, enjoying a global following across planet football. The tournament has a rich history and each round, from the …
The English Premier League is the biggest, richest, and most viewed professional football league in the world today and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. The top tier of English football, it boasts a rich history and is seen …
The 2020/21 season is almost upon us with the opening match of the campaign set to kick-off on Saturday 12th September, at 12:30 GMT in London. Neighbours Fulham and Arsenal will meet at Craven Cottage to bring the curtain up …