Tickets
One of the questions that comes up almost daily on my London Facebook groups and especially those for visitors is the vexed question of how to get tickets for football games in the capital. I have attempted to give a comprehensive response multiple times and my friend Richard Atkinson has crafted a comprehensive overview. So, if you are interested in tickets for matches in London and want the FACTS from people living here who actually go to numerous games each season, read on!
Richard says,
” London currently has seven teams playing in the Premier League: Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham, Brentford, West Ham United, Crystal Palace
Obviously there are other well known clubs outside of London such as Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City. Both Liverpool and Manchester are around 2 1/2 to 3 hours’ train journey from London and would probably require an overnight stay in either city if you can secure match tickets.
The fixture list for the Premier league is released mid June with games generally taking place August- May
Unfortunately tickets for premier league clubs are rarer than gold hens’ teeth unless you are a season ticket holder or club member (although even this doesn’t guarantee you a ticket.) Your best bet for these teams is hospitality packages, however these can easily run into hundreds if not thousands of pounds.
Also many teams will run some sort of membership scheme and categorise matches so for example let’s take Chelsea when they play the bigger more widely supported teams such as Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool etc these games will be highest demand for tickets so they have a points based system in place where fans collect points by going to lesser matches against say Burnley, Nottingham Forest, Ipswich etc which then gives them more chance of tickets for the “bigger” games. The more points you have the more likely you can get tickets. This ensures that fans that go regularly can get tickets to the bigger matches, but does mean it’s even harder for visitors to get tickets for these games.
Another option is that these clubs have supporters’ groups all over the world (especially in the US and Australia.) Have a search online if there is a local supporters group near you and contact them as they occasionally have access to tickets or can perhaps point you in the right direction. Be VERY Careful when using third party sellers as they may not be legitimate tickets. ALWAYS buy directly from the club or through the clubs recommended ticket agents.
Perhaps consider a game outside of the Premier League lots of London based clubs in the lower divisions
London Teams in Lower Divisions
Championship
Queens Park Rangers, Watford (Just outside of London) ,Millwall
League 1
Charlton
Leyton Orient, Reading (Outside of London but now easily accessible via Elizabeth line)
League 2
Gillingham ,AFC Wimbledon
(I hate to recommend these two as these are both big rivals of the team I follow 
)
You SHOULD be able to get tickets for these teams easily for Championship it’s worth looking a few weeks ahead leagues 1&2 should generally be available a few days before or even on the door.
Again register on the websites for updates on tickets
Please be aware that Premier league and occasionally Championship games can be moved to different dates and time due to TV schedules or if a team does particularly well in the various cup competitions so just keep an eye out.
Another option is an England match at Wembley Stadium. They have generally more general tickets on sale and is often cheaper than Premier League check online for schedules. They generally have games about every 6-8 weeks between October and May
If you are travelling in July/early August this is the start of pre season matches often friendlies or mini tournaments against teams from other parts of Europe tickets for these games are relatively easy to find.
Again depending on the time of year early rounds on the various cup competitions are fairly easy to get tickets especially the league cup or Europa league, note that the Premier League teams will not enter The FA Cup until the third round in January. The Premier League will have eight teams in Europe; Manchester City Arsenal, Manchester United and Newcastle have qualified for the Champions League, Liverpool, Brighton and West Ham will be in the Europa League Aston Villa (Based in Birmingham 1.5 hours train from London) are in the Europa Conference League, although note that often the higher profile players will not play in these games and the manager may well select younger/reserve players to give them a chance in the team.
Alternatively Women’s football has become massively popular in recent years and the big clubs are now taking it much more seriously the Women’s matches tend to be played in smaller stadiums often in the suburbs of London but easy reach by public transport, occasionally they play in the main stadiums and can attract crowds of up to 50,000 so it’s maybe worth keeping an eye of the fixtures for Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham Women’s teams as well this may well increase due to The Women’s World Cup last summer. If England do well (as expected) interest and attendances may well increase further and more games may be played in bigger stadiums as a result.
Outside of all this there is a huge amount of lower league teams all over London who play regularly I found this amazing website. Which will list that weeks matches with a handy map note the lower the division obviously the smaller the stadiums and smaller the crowds many of these teams will attract fans from anywhere from 1000 to literally just a handful.
Alternatively, if you want a sports’ fix why not try other sports such as Rugby Union (Harlequins and Saracens in London), Rugby League (London Broncos) or Cricket particularly in the T20 or 100 tournaments (Surrey or Middlesex)
For “US” sports London has leading teams in basketball (London Lions) or ice hockey (Guildford Flames/Streatham Redskins)
Don’t forget London also hosts world class sporting events such as Wimbledon tennis tournament, and often major championships in Athletics, Swimming and Track and Road Cycling.”
His credentials: Richard is a vastly experienced London Tour Guide having worked in the industry for over two decades. Starting his career for Historic Royal Palaces based at Hampton Court Palace and moved on to becoming a tour guide with both Toot Tours and Guide manager with Golden Tours. His career has seen him work at many of London’s major attractions including The Harry Potter studio tour, The Tower Bridge Exhibition, The London Film Museum, both Chelsea and Wembley Stadium Tours and even Buckingham Palace itself.
Richard currently runs a variety of independent small group walking tours across London via Guruwalks, including Changing Of The Guard, Harry Potter and The Beatles in London, using his vast passion for his home city , and deep knowledge especially for all things Royal, to bring London to life for thousands of happy visitors every year and he looks forward to welcoming you as part of his tours.