Many fans enjoy travelling across the country to show support for their team when they’re not playing at home. However, obtaining Premier League away tickets isn’t always easy, as tickets are limited. In this article, we discuss Premier League away ticket allocations and how they are calculated.
Home vs away matches
Home advantage in sport has always been prevalent, as players are in familiar territory and don’t have the added inconvenience of travel. Historically, it’s been said that referring decisions were sometimes swayed in favour of the home team to appease the larger crowd.
In 2017/2018, the English Premier League introduced changes to encourage away fan attendance, which was on the back of a three-year cap on away ticket prices at £30. According to the EPL, these changes included providing at least one block of away fan seats to be made available pitch side. This change carried significant importance as it allowed visiting fans to be nearer the field, affording them an enhanced perspective of the game’s proceedings.
How many tickets are allocated to away fans in the Premier League?
In the Premier League, home clubs are required to offer the visiting team a minimum of 3,000 tickets (or 10% of the seats in the stadium, if the capacity doesn’t exceed 30,000).
This can cause issues within the smaller teams of the Premier League, such as Bournemouth, whose stadium only holds 11,307 fans and therefore away fans are only allocated 1,307 tickets. Thankfully, you can buy tickets for both home and away matches at Ticket Compare.
The Championship, League One, and League Two all work on a similar basis where home clubs must provide 2,000 tickets for visiting supporters. If the stadium holds less than 20,000 fans, then it must be 10% of the stadium capacity.
FA Cup away ticket allocations
For FA Cup matches, away fans are allocated up to 15% of all tickets for the stadium hosting, prior to the semi-final and final (as those are played at Wembley). However, if 15% of the stadium is still higher than 9,000 (for instance Old Trafford, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Emirates Stadium and the London Stadium) then allocations will be capped at 9,000. This is unless the home club is willing to offer more.
Stadium sizes and away ticket allocations in the Premier League
As outlined, the size of the stadium is a key factor for how many away tickets are allocated. Below, we take a closer look at some Premier League stadiums, and how their capacity might affect the amount of away tickets that are available, as well as detailing where fans can expect to be seated.
Old Trafford
Manchester United’s world-famous Old Trafford stadium holds a capacity of 74,310, and is the largest football club stadium in the UK. Away fans visiting Old Trafford are seated in the adjoining section of the South and East stands, and are usually allocated 3,000 tickets.
Anfield
Anfield has a seated capacity of 54,074, which looks set to expand in the near future. Similarly to Old Trafford, Liverpool’s home ground allocates just under 3,000 tickets for its away fans. Away fan seats are located in the lower tier of the Anfield Road stand.
Etihad Stadium
Etihad Stadium, home of Manchester City, has a capacity of 55,000. As its capacity also exceeds 30,000, it too offers around 3,000 tickets for away fans (and 4,500 for cup games). Away supporters will be seated in one side of the South Stand at one end of the ground and spread across the upper, middle and lower tiers.
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is based in North London and has a capacity of 62,850. Away fans are given 3,000 tickets, however a much larger allocation of up to 9,000 can be made available for domestic cups. Away fans at Tottenham’s ground can expect to be seated in the lower tier of the North East corner.
Emirates Stadium
The Emirates Stadium has a seated capacity of 60,704 and is the fifth-largest stadium in England. Around 3,000 tickets are allocated for away fixtures at Arsenal’s ground, however this can increase for cup games. Away supporters will be housed in the lower tier of the South East corner.
Which Premier League team has the most away fans?
According to the Stadium Guide, Liverpool has the highest number of away supporters, closely followed by fellow Premier League giant Manchester United. Liverpool and Man United are two of the country’s biggest and most well-supported teams, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that fans are willing to travel all over the country to watch them play. In contrast, some of the less renowned Premier League teams seem to attract fewer away supporters.
Where to get away tickets
As we’ve discussed, securing away tickets isn’t always simple, as capacity is limited.
It’s important to note when purchasing tickets that you may not necessarily get to sit in the away stand, however, you can buy tickets to sit anywhere in the stadium by using Ticket Compare’s trusted partners.
Alongside the Premier League, we also provide tickets for the FA Cup, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A, and UEFA Champions League.
Header image: Albinfo, CC BY-SA 2.5 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
