Football Betting Sites

As the most watched and most bet on sport in the UK, football is the cornerstone of any decent bookie. In fact, we know of only one British bookie who doesn't offer football betting - and that's because they're a specialist horse racing site. 

But just because footie is covered by most bookmakers, that doesn't mean that all football betting sites are equal, with many of the smaller bookmakers only offering a restricted number of markets on less headline grabbing matches. And some offer decent coverage of international matches and lower leagues, whilst others don't. Odds and offers also vary from bookie to bookie, meaning that it really pays to find the right website to bet with.

Best Bookmakers For Betting On Football

This page is split into a number of sections sections. First we have our guide to the best websites for betting football ('soccer' to those of you outside of the UK). These are our personal, hand picked recommendations which we've selected for a variety of reasons. For some it's because they have the best odds, for others it's their offers, and for some it's their features and coverage - so which site you pick depends on what matters to you most.

Football Betting Guides & Articles

In this next section we've compiled a series of guides to betting on football, covering everything from the basics (different types of football bets) through to the more complex topics, strategies and locating harder to find markets such as an Anytime Scorecast. For more guides, see our main articles page that covers all aspects of betting.

Frequently Asked Questions

In the section below this one, you'll find a list of articles which we've written about betting on fooball. Many of them are quite detailed and we realise that a lot of you just want a quick answer. For that reason we've compiled the following FAQ.

Please note: Each bookie will have their own set of rules, so you may come across one who does things a little differently to how we've answered it below. Generally speaking though the following applies to most UK betting sites.

What Does -1 or +1 Mean in Football Betting?

Whenever you see a number such as -1 or +1, this is a handicap bet. Put simply, it adjusts the score of a team by that number of goals - so if a team has a -1 handicap, you reduce their score by that number meaning that if the draw with the other team, the bet loses. If they win by one goal, it's a draw and if they win by 2 goals it's a win. 

Handicaps are used to level the playing field and to make matches more interesting (from a betting perspective). For example, if Man United were playing Portsmouth, we would expect to see Man United be heavy favourites around 1/3. However Man United -2 would have bigger odds. Conversely Portsmouth would have large odds, applying a +2 handicap would make it more likely for them to win, resulting in a reduction in the odds.

What Does -0.5 or +0.5 Mean in Football Betting?

This is an Asian Handicap and works very similar to regular handicapping described above. The key difference is that because the handicap is for a fraction, there is no draw (as you can't score a fraction of a goal).

For example: If Arsenal were playing Liverpool and had a -0.5 handicap, this means that if Arsenal win by 1 or more goals, they still win. But if the match ended in a draw, they would lose.

What is Scorecast Betting & Why is it Needed?

Scorecasts are a very common bet and involve predicting the correct score of the match as well as the first goalscorer - usually for some pretty decent odds. But why can't it be placed as a standard acca, we hear you ask? That's because the two events - a player scoring and the score of the match - are related to each other, meaning that if Rooney scores for Man United, their score can't possibly be zero.

This concept is known as a Related Contingency and put simply means you cannot combine bets that are connected to each other in any way. Other examples of bets that wouldn't be allowed include a Leicester to win against Man City and also win the Premier League, or Diego Costa to score for Chelsea against Spurs and both teams to score.

Can I Place a Scorecast Bet With an Anytime Goalscorer / Match Odds Bet?

You can indeed. Whilst scorecasts are the most common bet of this type, there are a number of different bets which follow the same theme including:

• Anytime Scorecast - A player to score any time in the match, and the final score.
• Wincast - First goalscorer plus the match odds result (eg: Win/Draw/Win).

For more information, and even more variations of these bets, see our main Scorecast article.

Do Own Goals Count in Both Teams To Score?

Yes. As with match odds, final score, half-time/full-time and many other markets it's the numbers on the scoreboard that count, regardless of who it was that caused the ball to hit the back of the net.

If both teams have one or more goals then a 'BTTS - Yes' result will be recorded, even if both of the teams goals came from their own players. See our own goals article for a more detailed explanation.

Do Own Goals Count in First Goalscorer Bets?

This time, no. Unlike BTTS where the team the goal is scored for doesn't matter, with goalscorer bets (first/last/anytime) an own goal is ignored. Think of it as the 'first player to score in the opponents net'. The same thing goes for last goalscorer and anytime goalscorer bets.

In the case of an own goal, the next player to score will be considered the first goalscorer. Unless that is also an own goal, of course, in which case it would be the next player. And so on. See our dedicated own goals article for more info.

What Happens if my Goalscorer Bet Doesn't Start?

In order for a first/last/anytime goalscorer bet (including scorecast and others bets involving these goalscorer markets) to stand the player must play in the match. If they do not start, or come on after the first goal has been scored then the bet will be considered void. 

If your player started, but was sent off or subbed before the first goal was scored, the bet stands and will be considered to have lost (unless that player comes back on and scores).

What Does Each Way Betting Mean in First Goalscorer Bets?

Each way first goalscorer betting works in much the same way as any other kind of each way bet - for the most common example, think of horse racing where you receive one payout for your horse coming in the top 3/4/5/6 places (depending on the number of horses) and another for them winning.

Each way gets are actually made up of two separate portions - win, and place. With first goalscorer each way bets, half of your bet will be for your player to score first, and half will be for your player to 'place' in the goalscorer list at reduced odds. Most bookmakers that offer the each way market pay out for five places at 1/3 the odds.

This means that if your player doesn't score the first goal, but he does score the second, third, fourth or fifth goal of the match you'll win the place portion of your bet. This is paid out at 1/3 the odds - so if the first goalscorer odds were 9/1, you'll get 3/1 for them scoring in the top five.

Can You Have a Dead Heat in Football?

In some circumstances, yes. Dead heats are uncommon in regular matches, but when it comes to tournament betting - such as the top goalscorer at the Euros - then it is possible to have a dead heat. Standard dead heat rules apply in these circumstances - see our Dead Heat article for more information.

What Happens if a Match is Postponed?

Bets usually stand if the game takes place the same day. If the match takes place on any other date, all bets will be made void. The exception for this is where a match has been rescheduled in advance, in this scenario the original bets will stand. See our Postponed Matches article for more details.

What Happens if a Match is Abandoned?

Normally all bets which can be settled will stand - for example, if a player has scored in the match before it was abandoned, then the first goalscorer market will pay out as normal. Likewise for half-time results if the abandonment happens after half-time. Bets without a clear result will be made void. See our Abandoned Matches article for more details.

Do Any Bookmakers Offer Live Streaming For Football?

This is a tricky question, because it depends on what you want to watch. For the more popular UK leagues and tournaments television rights are fought over with bloodied hands, with the winners forking over huge sums of money for the privaledge of showing the matches. So for big matches, the answer will be no.

If, on the other hand, you want to watch matches from a smaller league, or from a foreign league/competition, then things change a little and some bookies do offer live streaming. In particular Betfair have a strong selection streaming massive non-UK matches such as El Classico as well as smaller games from the UK and abroad.

You don't need to place a bet to watch, but you normally have to have a funded account.