The new Premier League campaign kicks off on Friday, and football fans will once again be digging deep to fund their love of the beautiful game.
Guardian Money research suggests that some fans at the biggest London clubs are spending more than £4,000 a year to watch their favourite side’s home games in person and view the other matches live on TV.
Those travelling a long way to each match, and who like to enjoy an overpriced pre-match beer (or two) and a pie, may well be paying even more.
However, it doesn’t have to be this way. If you are prepared to cast your net a little wider – and, God forbid, consider switching your allegiance to a new team – it is possible to slash the cost of watching football in person.
Here is a comprehensive guide to how to be a football fan without breaking the bank. We have examined the various options for reducing your outlay, whether it is going to matches or watching them on TV.
The author Nick Hornby memorably wrote: “The natural state of the football fan is bitter disappointment, no matter what the score” – but perhaps spending a bit less money will help to ease that condition a little.
Season tickets
Most diehard football fans would rather give up almost anything else before they would consider handing back their season ticket but there is no denying that it often comes with a substantial price tag.
According to a recent analysis of the country’s season ticket prices, the most expensive standard offering is, somewhat unexpectedly, to be found at Fulham, with fans paying up to £3,000 for a seat in the new Riverside stand (that is for a “platinum upper” ticket – there are less pricey options). An outlay of £3,000 equates to £158 for each of the 19 home games, although there are other benefits, too.
North London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal have the next most expensive seats at up to £2,025 and up to £1,895.50 respectively.
At the other end of the financial spectrum, the three newly promoted Premier League clubs – Burnley, Luton Town and Sheffield United – are a lot more affordable. For example, Burnley’s standard adult season tickets cost £335 to £500, while at Luton Town the standard adult price is £510.
However, there are deals that are quite a bit cheaper than that. At the League Two club Accrington Stanley, the 2023-24 early bird price for adults was £239, while the standard price is £285, with the latter working out at £12.39 a game.
At the fellow League Two club Salford City – co-owned by a group of former Manchester United players – standard season tickets start at £180, with kids’ season tickets (ages five to 13) from £15.
If you are thinking of signing up, hold on to your scarf for a second. At most Premier League clubs, and some others considered to be on the up, there is likely to be a waiting list for a season ticket. Many in-demand clubs charge fans a fee – about £35 in some cases – just to join the waiting list.
What about one-off tickets?
One of the problems that occasional fans face is that it is almost impossible to buy individual match tickets at many Premier League grounds.
Clubs increasingly require fans to be a member to gain the right to buy tickets. For example, tickets for Manchester City’s game against Nottingham Forest on 23 September are only on sale to Cityzens Matchday and Junior Members, and it’s one ticket available per supporter. To join, adults pay £35.
It is a similar story at many other big clubs. However, step away from the Premier League and it gets much easier. Swansea City, known for playing attractive football – they are in the second-tier Championship – have, with a bit of forethought, tickets freely available. Standard individual match tickets are £29-£34 for adults.
Drop into League One and the tickets are even cheaper. A parent and child under 12 can go to watch Stevenage play for a total of £25 – about the same price as four beers at Tottenham’s stadium.
I only want to see my team. Are there any other options?
One option for desperate fans hoping to see their team is to buy tickets for the League Cup matches, known as the Carabao Cup. The bigger clubs will often rest their star players in the early rounds and, because interest in these matches is not quite the same as for some of the other competitions, it can be much easier to get tickets for the midweek games. Evening games have a special atmosphere, and there are usually plenty of goals in this competition.
Another place to see the stars of the future is at academy games. For example, Manchester United’s under-21s play their home fixtures at Leigh Sports Village, about 16 miles from Old Trafford. And the best bit: entry is free.
Can I share my season ticket?
Most clubs allow season ticket holders to pass their ticket on to friends if they can’t attend, and if some money (face value) changes hands behind the scenes, then everyone’s happy.
For example, Tottenham allow fans to share their ticket with up to 20 others – and it is all done digitally, so the person you give your seat to has the ticket on their phone.
Many other teams have similar measures in place.
The cost of watching live football on TV
In the past it was all very easy: fans simply signed up to Sky Sports or headed to the pub to watch the big TV games. While Sky still airs the most live Premier League matches, fans who can’t miss a game will need a BT Sport – now called TNT Sports – subscription, and need to be a member of Amazon Prime (£8.99 a month).
Depending on things such as when you signed up and which other TV and broadband services you get, some households could be spending close to £100 a month for the whole caboodle.
However, are you paying for channels that you are not watching? Sky Sports Premier League is aimed at customers who love their top-flight football but aren’t too fussed about other sports such as cricket or golf.
Priced at £18 a month, this is a 30-day rolling subscription, giving viewers the flexibility to sign up and cancel each month depending on what they would like to watch – perfect for watching the new season and unsubscribing when it’s done. If you add Sky Sports Football, it costs £22 a month for both channels.
Another option is to sign up for Now TV, which is a standalone TV package – there is no need to have any other paid-for TV services. It offers all 11 Sky Sports channels for £34.99 a month. Users watch on mobiles and other devices including smart TVs. Each account allows users to stream to three devices simultaneously, meaning there would be nothing to stop three flatmates sharing a subscription for about £12 a month each. The best bit is that you are not tied into a contract, meaning you can cancel with a few weeks’ notice or sit out the non-footballing months.
TNT Sports will show a number of Premier League matches live and all the Champions League games, as well as the Europa League games. BT broadband customers can add TNT Sports to their existing contracts from £12 a month. For Sky customers, it’s a minimum of an extra £25 a month.
This week the Be Clever With Your Cash website calculated that fans could save an average of £750 (and up to £850) if they only watch their favourite club and are prepared to mix and match streaming services. The site says it is all about “only paying for services when your team is on the TV … If you ditch the lengthy contracts and plan ahead, you can make some really big savings”.
If all this sounds too much, don’t forget that there is radio commentary on most big matches on BBC Radio 5 Live and TalkSport. And the BBC One TV highlights show Match of the Day is still going strong.
Head to the pub
Going to a local pub to watch the match is a low-cost option that will give you that communal experience – provided, of course, you don’t end up spending lots of money on drinks and food. That said, nursing half a pint all afternoon or evening may not make you very popular with the bar staff.
Don’t want to pay £70 for a shirt? Go retro
With some official team shirts costing about £70-£80, and a few retailing for more than £100, why not go down the retro shirt route? Not only will it suit fans of a certain age, it may well cut your shirt bill in half.
A new Manchester United 1973 retro shirt can be had for £40 or less in the used market.
On eBay, huge numbers of shirts change hands for much more palatable prices, often with the names of former players on the back.
Watch women’s matches
Want to watch world-class footballers, often in big stadiums, for a fraction of the cost of a Premier League ticket? The Women’s Super League (WSL) offers exciting football for a lot less cash. In some cases, adults pay under a tenner and kids less than £5.
There are 12 fully professional teams in the WSL, and while the majority of games are played in smaller stadiums, an increasing number of women’s matches are being held in clubs’ men’s grounds.
For those looking for a big-match experience with some of the world’s most skilful players, it can be a bargain.
For example, while it will be very hard to buy tickets to see the Arsenal men’s team at the 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium this season, Arsenal Women will play five WSL games at the north London ground between October and early March, including games against the champions, Chelsea, as well as Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
General sale ticket prices for the WSL Emirates matches start at £12 for adults and £6 for children (plus a £1.65 booking fee) – it is even cheaper than that if you can grab an early bird deal – with the tickets going on sale eight to 10 weeks before match day.
Across the WSL, there are plenty of cheap ticket deals to be had, with many of the stars of the Women’s World Cup on display. If you get a taste for it, the season tickets for the women’s game are often an even bigger bargain.
While there is a WSL season ticket waiting list at some clubs, at Manchester United, for example, a WSL season ticket that allows you to be there for every home game costs only £60 a year for adults and £30 for under-16s and over-65s. There are similar prices at other clubs.
