Going to a football match in Britain

Buying a ticket

The Premier League's advice is short: buy match tickets from the club, through its website, its ticket office, in person or by phone. Clubs list any authorised ticket partners on their own websites, so check the club site before you pay a third party. ^[1] The league's tickets page links straight to each club's ticket and hospitality pages. ^[2]

A travel or hotel package that includes a match ticket does not mean the seller is authorised to sell that ticket. ^[1]

• Prices well above face value. The league lists heavily inflated prices as a warning sign. ^[1]
• No stand, row or seat number. If the seller cannot tell you where you will sit, treat the ticket as suspect. ^[1]
• Collection away from the stadium. Being asked to pick tickets up from a hotel or another address, or to hand them back after the match, is another warning sign. ^[1]
• On sale many months before the fixture. Tickets offered long before the date are listed as a risk. ^[1]

The league also keeps a list of known unauthorised ticket websites, including large resale marketplaces, and asks fans to be careful with tickets offered in social media groups. If in doubt, check with the home club before you buy. ^[3]

Touting is a criminal offence for many matches. In England and Wales it is an offence for anyone not authorised in writing by the organisers to sell, or offer for sale, a ticket for a designated football match. ^{[4] [5]}

Rules inside the ground

Football grounds have their own ground regulations, printed on the club's website and on your ticket. On top of those, the law sets some rules that surprise visitors from countries where a beer in your seat is normal.

In practice this means drinking happens in the concourse bars before kick-off and at half-time, not in the stands. Courts in England and Wales can also make football banning orders that stop a person attending matches. ^[5]

For general safety, emergency numbers and what to do if something goes wrong, see our health and safety guide.

Stadiums in our city guides

These grounds sit inside areas we cover in detail, so the linked page shows how to get there, where to eat nearby and other things to see. Tour and museum dates change with the fixture list: check the official site before you plan around one.

Wembley's tour site offers a standard stadium tour, a VIP tour with a private guide and group and school tours. ^[8]

Football on a day without a match

Britain has two national football museums, and both make a good plan B if you cannot get a ticket.

• National Football Museum, Manchester. England's national museum of football, in the Urbis building beside Cathedral Gardens. See Northern Quarter: things to do.
• Scottish Football Museum, Glasgow. The national museum of the game in Scotland, inside Hampden Park. See Southside: things to do.
• Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow. A cricket ground in Partick that hosted the first international football match, Scotland against England. See Partick and Hyndland.
• Parker's Piece, Cambridge. The common where the Cambridge University football rules were first used. See Mill Road and the east.

Planning the day

1. Check the fixture date on the club's website before you book travel, and again shortly before you travel.
2. Buy from the club or a partner it names. Keep the confirmation email and the ticket in the club's app or as printed. ^[1]
3. Read the ground regulations for bag size and banned items.
4. Plan the trip back as well as the trip there. For trains between cities see our rail tickets guide and getting between regions.
5. Eat and drink before you go in, or in the concourse: not in your seat. ^[6] For pubs with food, see pubs.

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