When it comes to watching a football match, the requirements will be different for different people. Some just love football, happily stopping to watch a group of people kicking the ball around whilst walking through the park. For those types, literally any match available will more than tick their boxes. For others, however, it has to be the top level of football or nothing. If they can’t watch the Premier League then they’re not all that interested, with the downside being that doing so comes at a cost. Here we will look at which teams are the easiest to get tickets for and which are the cheapest.
It is important to point out that we’re looking at prices in 2024, so we won’t give exact numbers as they won’t be relevant if you’re reading this a year or so later. Whilst the exactly prices will go up or down (but mostly up), the nature of whether each team is expensive to buy tickets for or not doesn’t tend to change that much. That is to say, you’re unlikely to have to pay Premier League prices for a Barnet match, nor will you be able to find tickets for an Arsenal game that cost the same as it would to go and see Barnet. Whether something is at the more expensive or the cheaper end of the scale won’t change much.
It is also worth noting that some teams ask supporters to get a Membership before they are able to buy tickets. Memberships can cost as much as £50, which is an added expense on top of the match tickets themselves. In some instances, it might work out better to look at hospitality tickets when you consider the cost of the Membership and then the ticket price on top, given that hospitality doesn’t usually require a Membership. It isn’t always the case that you’ll need a Membership, especially not with the lower leagues, but it is something you need to look into depending on where you want to watch some football.
Top Level Football
The Premier League is the top division in England, also being better than the top division in any of the other British nations. The Scottish might like to think that Rangers and Celtic can take on Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur, but in reality they would lose against most Premier League sides. As with any other sport in any other country, if you want to go and see the top teams then you will be expected to pay the top prices. There is a slight degree of difference between each of the London clubs that play in the Premier League, but even the cheapest one will still be expensive when compared to lower level teams.
Arsenal
One of London’s most successful clubs, Arsenal are also one of the most expensive to get tickets to see play live. The Emirates welcomes around 60,000 people every home match, with demand being extremely high. When demand is higher than supply, that means that prices shoot up. As a result, tickets to see the Gunners are amongst the most expensive in the Premier League and certainly the costliest in London. Not only will you find it hard to get a ticket for the Emirates, the amount you’ll have to spend will be prohibitive for most people. Hospitality is an option, but the cost then goes up even higher.
Tottenham Hotspur
Few rivalries in football are as explosive as the North London Derby, with Tottenham Hotspur also rivalling Arsenal in terms of ticket prices. It wasn’t always the case, but the club decided to build a new home to play its matches in and now you have to pay big bucks to go to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for a Premier League match. The good news is that there are more tickets on account of the size of the new venue, but the host going up to help pay for it is less than ideal. Some matches will be cheaper than others, so it’s always worth taking a look to see what cost and availability is like for a Spurs match.
Chelsea
Stamford Bridge is a stadium full of personality, but it isn’t very big and the cost of making it bigger is all but prohibitive for the owners. As a result, Chelsea are one of the trickiest teams in the capital to get tickets for, especially when things are going well for the Blues. As with Spurs and Arsenal, tickets aren’t cheap. The club does use a category system that will see some matches priced higher than others; any of the London derbies will be both massively expensive and difficult to get hold of tickets for, for example. What that does mean, though, is that less popular games will also be easier to attend and cheaper in terms of cost.
Crystal Palace
As you start to go down the teams, even in the top level, you will notice that sides are not only slightly easier to get tickets to see live but also they become slightly cheaper. Crystal Palace tend to categorise their matches, with the higher category ones being more expensive and trickier to buy. Even so, they won’t be anywhere near as expensive as tickets for Arsenal or Tottenham Hotspur, as an example. Whilst the Eagles are a popular side to watch, they don’t always sell out their games and are certainly more likely to have tickets available when they’re playing some of the poorer teams, such as Everton.
West Ham United
West Ham United moved to the London Olympic Stadium in 2016, departing their former home for a new one with around 60,000 seats. The Hammers have a hardcore supporter base, but they aren’t so popular as to mean that they can sell 60,000 tickets. That means that you can usually get one unless it’s for a game that fans care a lot about. The other positive thing about West Ham is that they didn’t have to pay much for the stadium and therefore aren’t trying to recoup the money via ticket sales. You will stay pay a decent amount for a popular game or the best seats, but if you’re not too bothered then West Ham will do.
Brentford
It was a remarkable rise for Brentford, who not only made it into the Premier League but then surprised more than a few people by staying there. The Bees categorise their matches, which makes some more expensive than others, but obviously also means that some can be cheaper. The popularity of Brentford since their promotion means that it isn’t a simple process to get tickets, but you’re more likely to be able to do so against the poorer sides in the league. It is also worth thinking about when you go, with matches at Christmas, as an example, likely to be less popular as people save their money for the holidays.
Fulham
There are plenty of reasons why you might want to try to get tickets to see Fulham, with one of the main ones being that it is one of the friendliest clubs in football. This is demonstrated by the fact that there is a neutral/mixed area at Craven Cottage, which is something you don’t get pretty much anywhere else. That is an ideal location for overseas supporters to buy tickets for, with Fulham often having tickets available unless it is one of the really in-demand matches. They aren’t the most expensive tickets in the league either, with restricted view tickets for Category B games about as cheap as you’ll get for decent football.
Lower League
Once you start looking further down the English Football League pyramid, you can expect to pay less for tickets and also not have to worry as much about the likelihood of being able to get some. The truth of the matter is that you will almost certainly be able to get tickets for lower league teams for all but the most popular matches; even then you may still be able to get a few. Lower league sides simple can’t charge as much as those at the top-end of the game, so they’re the ones to target if you’re keen to just watch football of any sort whilst you’re in London. The quality might not be as good, but the experience probably will be.
Queens Park Rangers
Tickets for Queens Park Rangers matches are usually cheaper if bought in advance, which is worth bearing in mind if you know you’re heading to London and have a sense of when you’d like to go and see them. Even if you leave it until the last minute, though, the likelihood is that you’ll be able to get tickets and they won’t be all that pricey. QPR use a categorisation system for the games, with the ones that are likely to be more popular costing more money. The level of football that you’re going to get to watch won’t be the best, but Loftus Road is a famous old ground that is worth visiting even without the football.
Millwall
The reality is that most people will tell you not to visit Millwall, irrespective of the cheap pricing and ready availability of the tickets. The club has long suffered from an image problem, thanks in no small part to the hooligan element within its fanbase and the open racism that opposition supporters and players have had to face. It is not all that expensive to see the club play in monetary terms, but the cost on your soul might be worth thinking about. The New Dell regularly rings out with chants of ‘no one likes us and we don’t care’, which tells you everything you need to know about the experience of watching Millwall.
Charlton Athletic
At the almost opposite end of the scale to Millwall is Charlton Athletic. The Valley has enough room for nearly 30,000 people and is rarely anywhere even close to capacity, meaning that tickets are reasonably easy to get hold of. You can also bet that the Addicks won’t be charging too much for the pleasure, so you won’t be breaking the bank to head along and watch them play. The location of the stadium, close to the Royal Borough of Greenwich, means that you can make something of a day of it, heading along to see the Cutty Sark or the Royal Observatory or simply wander around Greenwich Park. Lovely.
Leyton Orient
In terms of seeing the Os, you aren’t going to be too hard-pressed to get tickets for Brisbane Road. It probably tells you something that the club put in a request to share the Olympic Stadium with West Ham United back in 2012, showing how much faith that they have in the quality of their own own ground. That being said, it is a great experience to get along and watch some lower league football in a stadium that dates back to the 1890s, so as long as you’re not expecting to see football at the level of Maradona or Lionel Messi then you’ll be pleased enough with what’s on offer during your visit to see Leyton Orient play.
Sutton United
The further down the divisions you drop, the cheaper prices are and the easier to get tickets it becomes. In the case of Sutton United, you will also be travelling well outside what most people would traditionally considered to be ‘London’ for the pleasure. Not that the Us aren’t worth a visit, with Gander Green Lane being a great example of what to expect when it comes to lower league football. Only around 5,000 people can attend games, but you don’t need to worry too much about not being able to get tickets, especially if you’re willing to stand on the terraces rather than get one of the posh seats. A cheap and cheerful experience.
AFC Wimbledon
Tickets for AFC Wimbledon games go on sale a few weeks in advance of the game, which is ideal for early planners. Don’t worry if that isn’t you, though, as you will still be able to get hold of some on the day of a game. This is a team filled with history… sort of. Wimbledon moved to Milton Keynes and became the MK Dons, so AFC Wimbledon is a phoenix club and consequently tickets are often available for their games. They won’t be the most expensive around either, but the supporters love the club and so the atmosphere is usually well worth getting involved in. You can also visit other attractions in the area whilst you’re there.
Think About the Competition
One thing that you might want to look at when you’re trying to get tickets for various football teams is which competition it is that they’re taking part in. In some ways, it actually works in opposite ways depending on whether you’re looking at top-level teams or ones lower down the pyramid. The top teams tend to charge less for FA Cup and League Cup games, depending on who they’re drawn to play against, plus they’ll charge less money. For the lower league sides, on the other hand, cup games can be a big deal and a lot of people will be wanting to watch if they’re drawn to play a Premier League side at home.