How to watch football in London!

When one thinks of England these days it’s hard to ignore how dominated the culture is by football and especially the Premier League. In fact a 2015 populist poll of citizens from Nigeria, Qatar, India, China, Thailand, Indonesia, the USA and Hong Kong revealed that the Premier League was Britain’s most popular brand ahead of such things as the BBC, the Monarchy and British music. London, at the time of writing, is home to 6 Premier League clubs; Chelsea, Arsenal, West Ham, Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham, and Crystal Palace. As a result of the huge global popularity of the league, many people come to England just to watch these games live and so tickets are not easy to come by. That doesn’t mean, however, that there aren’t ways of getting hold of tickets. Games between the big six (Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham) are almost impossible to obtain unless you are willing to break the bank. Instead I would recommend watching these games on TV in one of the numerous pubs across the city that show football.

Tickets for games in which the London teams play smaller opposition are much easier (and more affordable!) to buy. I would recommend checking the official websites of each team and signing up for newsletters about upcoming fixtures and on-sale dates. These sites remain the best, and most reliable way, of securing tickets to Premier League matches. Chelsea are the one club where it can be difficult to buy tickets for Premier League games as they play in a smaller stadium than most of the other big teams and so their tickets sell out very quickly. However, this season they are playing in the Europa League which is a not a popular tournament among supporters of big teams and so this competition, along with the Carabao Cup, might be your best option if you want to watch ‘The Blues’ live in action. Another option you have in this great city is to watch some lower league football. QPR, Millwall, Brentford, Charlton, and AFC Wimbledon are 5 other clubs based in London that attract big crowds, great atmospheres and more affordable tickets. Once again, the official websites, are the best way to go when it comes to securing tickets. One thing is for sure – if you want a proper cultural experience during your stay in England, it doesn’t get much more authentic than watching a game of our national sport live. As the great ex-manager of Liverpool, Bill Shankly, once famously said; “Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I don’t like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that.”