Imagine waiting over two decades for a seat at your favorite football team's stadium. For football-mad Premier League fans, that’s the reality.
Thanks to the immense popularity of Premier League football, several clubs have season ticket waiting lists that stretch for an entire generation.
So, which Premier League club has the longest waiting list? And how do different clubs handle the rising demand for tickets? Read on to find out.
What Team Has the Longest Waiting List for a Season Ticket?
Every Premier League club has its own system for allocating season tickets. Some use waiting lists, while others like Chelsea make fans prove their loyalty by attending tons of games.
A few have paid waiting lists, and at Tottenham, for example, a spot on the list is included with a club membership.
But a select group of teams have such high demand for tickets that the wait can feel endless. Let’s dive into the clubs with the most extreme season ticket demand.
Premier Clubs with the Longest Season Ticket Waiting Lists
Liverpool
Liverpool Season Ticket Waiting List: 25+ years
Liverpool holds the longest waiting list in the Premier League, exceeding 25 years. As of 2024/25, it's impossible to even join the list: The club hasn’t reopened it since 2011. Every renewal period brings stories of fans finally getting a Liverpool season ticket after decades of anticipation.
Manchester United
Manchester United Season Ticket Waiting List: 25 years
Manchester United’s queue for season tickets exceeds 120,000 fans in 2024/25, with an estimated 25-year wait. Unlike Liverpool, United’s list is still open, and backdoor options like cup season tickets and Premium Membership can even help fans move up the queue faster.
Arsenal
Arsenal Season Ticket Waiting List: 20+ years
Since the rise of Mikel Arteta, Arsenal’s season ticket waiting list has grown to staggering proportions. As of autumn 2024, more than 100,000 fans are waiting, but only around 800 season tickets became available in summer 2024, so the line is not moving.
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Season Ticket Waiting List: 10+ years
The Villans’ list has expanded as the team pushed for European competition. However, Aston Villa decided not to sell any new season tickets for 2024/25, which has only further extended the estimated wait time. According to local reports there were 26,000 fans stuck in this broken queue in 2024.
Everton
Everton Season Ticket Waiting List: 6+Years
At Goodison Park, Everton has consistently kept prices low, and has a fanbase that returns season after season, for better or worse. There are 34,000 people on the list, an estimated wait of around 6 years. Expect changes after the Toffees’ upcoming move to Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium.
Premier League Clubs Without Season Ticket Waiting Lists
Chelsea
Loyalty Points System
With just 28,000 Chelsea season tickets available at Stamford Bridge, fans must attend matches to earn Loyalty Points for the right to buy a permanent seat. Before the 2024/25 season, Chelsea fans needed 148 Loyalty Points, equivalent to attending 85% of Chelsea's fixtures during the 2023/24 season. This is nearly impossible for the average fan to pull off.
Manchester City
No Traditional Waiting List
Manchester City season tickets sell out every season, but the club doesn’t maintain a formal waitlist. Instead, tickets are sold to members on a first come, first served basis, meaning fans need to be quick when tickets go on sale to secure one of the 40,000 season tickets.
Brentford
Ticket Access Points (TAPS)
Brentford uses Ticket Access Points (TAPS) to prioritise loyal fans. To qualify for a Brentford season ticket, fans need to accumulate TAPS by attending matches. In 2024/25, Bees fans needed around 1,000 TAPS, which typically takes about two seasons to achieve.
Leicester City
Home Priority Points System
At Leicester City, fans accumulate Home Priority Points by attending matches. The threshold changes each year, but in 2024/25, Leicester City fans needed 55 Home Priority Points, which can be earned by attending around 10 home matches per season for three years.
Brighton & Hove Albion
Home Match Attendance
In 2024, Brighton switched to a system based on attendance rather than a traditional waiting list. Brighton members accumulate loyalty points by attending games at Amex Stadium, giving them priority when season tickets become available around March each season.
Premier League Clubs with Shorter Season Ticket Waiting Lists
Wolves
Wolves Season Ticket Waiting List: 5+ Years
There’s booming demand for Wolverhampton Wanderers season tickets, and it’s only become stronger since the club returned to the Premier League in 2018. The queue for regular seat at Molineux is about 8,500 long, with a waiting time over 5 years
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Season Ticket Waiting List: 3+ years
The new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has cooled the crazy demand for season tickets, as the ST allocation nearly doubled overnight from 23,000 to 42,500. There are officially 90,000 fans currently on the waitlist, but because that’s an automatic perk of One Hotspur + membership, many will turn down the opportunity to buy a season ticket when they are offered one.
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Season Ticket Waiting List: 3 Years
Following their return to the Premier League, Nottingham Forest's popularity has soared. There are around 12,000 Forest fans on the waiting list in 2024, and the length is about 3 years. With high renewal rates and a historic fanbase, Nottingham Forest supporters must be patient for their chance to secure a season ticket.
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Season Ticket Waiting List: 2+ Years
Back in the Premier League after more than 20 years, Ipswich Town has home support that has stuck by their team. The 21,000 season ticket holders who have come up with the Tractor Boys enjoy some of the lowest prices in the Premier League. So Ipswich fans looking to secure a season ticket face an estimated wait time of around 2 years.
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace Season Ticket Waiting List: 1+ year
Crystal Palace introduced a season ticket waitlist for the first time in 2024 after freezing the price of all 18,000 season tickets at Selhurst Park. The wait is brief, and Crystal Palace fans can expect to get a ticket within a year.
West Ham United
West Ham United Season Ticket Waiting List: 1–2 years
With around 48,000 season ticket holders, West Ham’s list is relatively quick-moving. As of 2024/25, fewer than 10,000 Hammers fans are on the waiting list, and many fans can secure a ticket for the London Stadium within 2 years.
Fulham
Fulham Season Ticket Waiting List: 1 Year
Craven Cottage, home of Fulham FC, offers one of the more intimate stadium experiences in the Premier League. The capacity will soon rise to just under 30,000, while the Fulham season ticket allocation is capped at 15,000. If you register your interest, you can expect to hear back from the club by the end of the season.
Southampton
Southampton Season Ticket Waiting List: 1 year
Southampton adjusts their ticket allocation based on demand each year. After selling 20,000 season tickets for St Mary’s Stadium in 2024, Southampton introduced a waiting list, but fans shouldn’t wait longer than 1 year to secure a ticket.
Premier League Clubs Not Selling Season Tickets in 2024/25
Newcastle United
No New Season Tickets Since 2022
Newcastle United has not offered new season tickets since 2022. The club’s ownership appears to be reducing the number of Newcastle season ticket holders at St. James’ Park to capitalise on more lucrative matchday tickets. At present, new customers cannot buy a season ticket.
Bournemouth
No New Season Tickets Since 2014
AFC Bournemouth’s stadium capacity is just 11,379, and the club hasn’t sold any new season tickets since 2014. Many season tickets are held by long-term Bournemouth fans who secured them when the club was still in League 1, making it almost impossible for new fans to secure a season ticket.
How Hard Is it to Get Premier League Season Tickets?
It’s a tough long-term effort to get season tickets for Premier League teams, as we’ll show in our table.
If you notice some discrepancies, every team has a different way of allocating season tickets, and most teams with season ticket waiting lists have a different way of compiling them.
Premier League Club | Number of Season Ticket Holders | Waiting List | Waiting List Length | Estimated Waiting Time | Alternative System |
Arsenal | 40,000 | Yes | 100,000+ | 20+ years | N/A |
Aston Villa | 27,000 | Yes | 26,000 | 10+ years | N/A |
Bournemouth | <4,000 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Brentford | 10,000 | No | N/A | N/A | Loyalty Points |
Brighton & Hove Albion | 24,350 | No | N/A | N/A | Home Matches Attended |
Chelsea | 28,000 | No | N/A | N/A | Loyalty Points |
Crystal Palace | 18,000 | No | 3,000 | 1+ Year | N/A |
Everton | 30,500 | Yes | 30,000 | 6 Years | N/A |
Fulham | 15,000 | Yes | <1,000 | 1 Year | N/A |
Ipswich Town | 21,000 | Yes | 1,000+ | 2+ Years | N/A |
Leicester City | 25,000 | No | N/A | N/A | Loyalty Points |
Liverpool | 27,000 | Yes | 30,000+ | 25+ years | N/A |
Manchester City | 40,000 | N/A | N/A | First come, first served | N/A |
Manchester United | 50,000 | Yes | 120,000 | 20+ years | N/A |
Newcastle United | 30,000 | No | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Nottingham Forest | 21,000 | Yes | 12,000+ | 3 years | N/A |
Southampton | 20,000 | Yes | <1,000 | 1 year | N/A |
Tottenham Hotspur | 42,500 | Yes | 90,000 | 8+ years | N/A |
West Ham | 48,500 | Yes | 10,000 | 2 years | N/A |
Wolves | 22,500 | Yes | 8,500 | 5+ Years | N/A |
This table accounts only for general admission season ticket holders. Premium season ticket figures are not included.
Premier League Season Ticket Waiting Lists: 2014 vs 2024
Ten years is an absolute eternity in football. It’s hard to believe how high the demand has climbed over the past decade, while Premier League season ticket availability is on the wane.
The numbers for Arsenal and Manchester United speak for themselves—here’s how waiting lists have ballooned from 2014 to 2024:
Club | 2014 Season Ticket Waiting List | 2014 Estimated Waiting Time | 2024 Season Ticket Waiting List | 2024 Estimated Waiting time |
Arsenal | 40,000 | <10 years | 100,000+ | 20+ years |
Liverpool | 70,000 | 15 years | 30,000+ | 25+ years |
Manchester United | 35,000 | 1+ Year | 120,000 | 25 years |
Tottenham Hotspur | 47,000 | 10 years | 90,000 | 3+ years |
Note that the Liverpool season ticket waiting list has only declined because it has been closed since 2011. Tottenham Hotspur’s situation is unique because they relocated to a large new stadium in 2019.
Why Are Football Season Ticket Waiting Lists So Long?
There are a host of different factors behind the long waiting time for Premier League season tickets. You will find a different story for every club.
- Liverpool: Relative to the size of Anfield’s capacity of 61,276, Liverpool has a low proportion of season ticket holders, at just 27,000. So one of the big reasons behind Liverpool’s huge wait for season tickets is pure scarcity.
- Manchester United: The Red Devils are still one of the three most popular football clubs on the planet. In 2022/23 the club announced a total of 330,000 members, which is a world-record total. Safe to say demand for Man Utd season tickets is through the roof.
- Arsenal: By our estimation the Arsenal season ticket waiting list has doubled since the club’s turnaround under Mikel Arteta. The wait has surged from around 10 to more than 20 years in the space of a few short seasons.
Imagine being a kid waiting for a season ticket—and finally getting one when you’re a parent. That’s the reality at Liverpool and Arsenal at the moment, so naturally people will consider alternative routes into Anfield and the Emirates.
What to Do If You Can’t Get a Season Ticket?
If you're stuck on a long waiting list for a Premier League season ticket, don’t worry—there are still plenty of ways to watch your team live. Here’s a breakdown of your options:
Premier League Club Membership
For most fans, the first step is signing up for club membership. Except for Bournemouth, all Premier League clubs offer memberships that give you priority access to match tickets.
While membership doesn’t guarantee seats for the biggest games, it often allows you to jump ahead of non-members in the matchday ticket queue.
Keep in mind that for high-demand fixtures, clubs often give priority to regular match-going members, so ticket availability may still be limited.
Buying Premier League Resale Tickets 2024/25
Why wait years for a Premier League season ticket when you can enjoy the action now? Instead of spending decades on a waiting list, consider the secondary market. If you’re unsure about using resale sites, Ticket Compare makes it quick, easy and safe.
We partner only with the top trusted football ticket resale platforms and official hospitality providers, offering guarantees and customer support throughout the process. There’s availability for all matches, even if they’re sold out.
Ready to grab your seat? Visit Ticket Compare today to be part of the game—without the wait!
Header Image: Oldelpaso, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Common
