The Premier League is arguably the most popular sporting competition in the world, and due to high demand, it can be extremely difficult to buy tickets to attend Premier League matches in person. Official club memberships can make things a little easier, but even these do not guarantee tickets, especially for the most popular clubs and the biggest games.
In this article, we discuss how to buy Premier League tickets without membership. When exploring this topic, we look at the reasons why it’s hard to get tickets in the first place, where you can find tickets without a membership, and much more. If you want to learn how to get your hands on more Premier League tickets, we recommend reading on.
How to Buy Premier League Tickets Without Membership
The best method of buying Premier League tickets without membership is via official secondary ticket sellers, including leading companies like StubHub, Live Football Tickets, Football Ticket Pad, P1 Travel, WoWTickets. With trusted reviews, these outlets offer 100% genuine tickets at minimal risk.
Ticket Compare compares prices on secondary sites, enabling you to easily find the cheapest tickets for any major football match, including the Premier League.
What Are Premier League Memberships?
Before we discuss how to buy football tickets without a membership, it’s worth clarifying what a Premier League membership is. All 20 Premier League teams will offer membership packages to their fans. These vary greatly from club to club, but on a basic level they all require an annual fee, and will look something like this:
- Season tickets
- Home memberships
- Away memberships
Having a season ticket means that you’re guaranteed to have a ticket to every home match across a season. The difference between a season ticket and a membership is that a membership doesn’t guarantee you a ticket for every match. However, it does put you ahead in the queue against fans who don’t have a membership.
So your chances of getting tickets can be higher. That said, it is important to note that even a membership does not guarantee you will be able to get hold of tickets, especially not for the biggest Premier League clubs. Members at clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea may only be fortunate enough to buy tickets for a handful of matches a season.
Benefits of Premier League Memberships
The main benefit of owning a Premier League membership is that you may have access to tickets for your club earlier than thousands of other fans. This will apply for all types of matches too, meaning that it’s not entirely limited to league matches.
Having a membership can give you early access to away matches and cup competitions. If you support a team that plays in Europe, such as Manchester City, Liverpool or Manchester United, this can mean that you’ll get early access to tickets for a number of competitions.
It can be highly rewarding to have early access to tickets for Europe’s biggest competitions, including the Champions League, Europa League and the Europa Conference League.
The Limitations of Buying Premier League Tickets Without Membership
The key problem when buying Premier League tickets without a membership is that you’re much less likely to secure tickets for each match. This is because you’re essentially at the bottom of the priority list.
For most Premier League clubs, unless they’re in a bad position on or off the field, there will be enough demand which means that once tickets have been made available to season ticket holders and home members, matches will sell out before they go on general sale. This means that non-members will never have a regular chance of buying a ticket through clubs’ official box offices.
Why Is it Hard to Buy Premier League Tickets?
There are many reasons why it can be hard to buy English Premier League tickets for your club. These reasons include popularity of club, size of stadium, allocations and number of season ticket holders.
Popularity of Club
Firstly, the popularity of each Premier League club will be a key factor on how difficult it is to buy tickets for matches. If clubs are based in major cities and have dedicated fanbases, it’s more likely that it’ll be harder to buy Premier League tickets without a membership. Examples of this kind of club include Nottingham Forest and Leeds United.
Leeds is a major UK city and only has one professional football club. This means that they’re more likely to have more fans than clubs that share major cities. By having more fans, it can make it more difficult to buy tickets.
On the other hand, if a club is based outside a major city, there may be fewer people supporting that club, meaning that it’s less popular and therefore less demand for tickets.
Size of Stadium
The size of a club’s stadium is another key factor in why it can be hard to buy Premier League tickets. From Bournemouth’s 10,000 capacity stadium to Old Trafford, which holds 74,310 supporters, there is a huge range of stadium sizes across the Premier League.
The relationship between the size of a team’s ground and their popularity is what makes it easier or harder to buy tickets. A team like Brentford, whose new stadium holds 17,250 fans, are fighting for supporters as they are based in London along with other Premier League clubs Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, West Ham, Fulham and Crystal Palace.
The chances are it’s going to be easier to get tickets for Brentford than Fulham or Crystal Palace, even though their capacity is less than 20,000. Another reason for this is that Brentford are a relatively new Premier League side, so they won’t have had their fanbase growing at a bigger scale than other London clubs over recent decades. That being said, even Brentford members will not always be able to get hold of tickets for certain big games.
Away Allocations
Allocations refer to away ticket availability. The general rule of thumb set out by the Premier League is that clubs will receive ‘3,000 tickets per game, or 10% of stadium capacity if greater than 30,000 seats’.
The reality is that the majority of the 20 Premier League clubs will sell out their away allocation every single week. There is simply not enough supply to satisfy the demand of club supporters on this front. This is another clear reason why it can be hard to buy Premier League tickets.
Some clubs offer Away Season Tickets, guaranteeing seats for all 19 Premier League away games. These are so popular that the waiting lists are often closed to new applicants. Other clubs run schemes that reward long-term fans with access to away tickets, which makes it especially difficult for newcomers.
Number of Season Ticket Holders
Each football club in the Premier League will have a percentage of their stadium’s capacity allocated to season ticket holders. There is no set percentage here, either, and the exact number of season ticket holders will vary greatly depending on the size of each club’s stadium.
The greater the percentage of season ticket holders, the harder it can be to buy English Premier League tickets without a membership, as there will be fewer remaining tickets available for the general public.
Ballot Systems for Fairness
In the last few years many Premier League clubs like Arsenal and Liverpool have introduced a lottery system to sell their tickets to members. Naturally, this has completely randomised the process of buying tickets. Before, committed fans could snag tickets simply by getting online when they went on sale in a first come, first served system.
Now it doesn’t matter how quick you are. The chances are the same for everyone, and these are extremely low for the high-popularity matches.
Priority for Long-term Fans
Many Premier League clubs reward their most dedicated members with greater access to tickets. Loyalty points schemes used by clubs like Liverpool and Chelsea give priority to people who regularly attend matches. This can make it nigh-on impossible for new members or non-members to get hold of tickets for one-off games.
Best Websites to Buy Premier League Tickets
So now we’re aware of the reasons why it can be difficult to buy Premier League tickets without membership, and we’ve seen that members can find it tough. This begs the question, is it possible to buy tickets at all?
Yes, there are a few methods you can use to try and get your hands on those tickets, and these include: Secondary ticket marketplaces and ticket exchanges, ticket packages and travel agencies and social media/online forums.
Secondary Ticket Marketplaces and Ticket Exchanges
Secondary ticket marketplaces and ticket exchanges are your best bet for securing tickets for upcoming Premier League fixtures. The best part about this method is the guarantee of receiving authentic tickets, so there will be no nasty surprises when you go through the turnstile.
At Ticket Compare, we work with the following trusted secondary ticket marketplaces, which are some of the best websites from which to buy Premier League tickets.
StubHub
StubHub is a fantastic provider of event tickets, not only limited to football matches. They offer tickets for all types of events, including music concerts. With a 100% guarantee on every order, a 24/7 live chat service and PayPal accepted, StubHub is a fantastic option to consider when making your next Premier League ticket purchase.
Live Football Tickets
Another of the major players in the secondary ticket market, Live Football Tickets have been in the business for more than 10 years, offering secure payment and ticket customization while not requiring a registration to make a purchase. So what’s not to like?
Read our Live Football Tickets review.
Football Ticket Pad
Football Ticket Pad offers a fantastic booking experience, with a sleek website, secure payment methods (excluding PayPal), excellent customer services and even offers seating in pairs.
They operate using an active ticket marketplace and offer a 100% money-back guarantee, too, so there should be no concerns in trusting Football Ticket Pad when buying future Premier League tickets without membership.
P1 Travel
If you’re searching for a premium matchday experience, P1 Travel is an official hospitality agent and ticket reseller for a host of clubs both in the Premier League and around Europe. Naturally, this offers an additional level of peace-of-mind, knowing that your high-end day out will go off without a hitch. P1 Travel offers an Event Guarantee, and has a superb Trustpilot score.
WoWTickets
Looking for tickets in groups bigger than 2? Secondary ticket marketplace WoWTickets could be your answer! An easy-to-use website, an impressive Trustpilot score and tickets available seating more than 2 fans together are just some of the benefits you can enjoy when purchasing Premier League tickets from them.
You can also search for specific fixtures or teams here on Ticket Compare to find the best prices from all our trusted vendors.
Ticket Packages and Travel Agencies
Ticket packages and travel agencies are another method of sourcing Premier League tickets without membership, however this method tends to be the most expensive by some distance. Although you’ll get more than just a ticket for a match, the package deals regularly price out the majority of potential customers.
Social Media and Online Forums
Another method of buying Premier League tickets without membership is through social media and online forums. It’s worth noting that this is the most risky way of purchasing Premier League tickets, though, as social media and forums are often full of people trying to scam potential buyers.
If you’re able to find a fellow fan of the club you support who can provide you with genuine tickets, you’re onto a winner, however most people find this difficult to achieve.
With no guarantee that any tickets you buy are genuine, don’t be surprised to turn up to the turnstile and be turned away from the match you supposedly bought tickets for when purchasing from sellers on social media and online forums.
Conclusion
Although having a membership can make the process of buying Premier League tickets via clubs a lot easier, it won’t guarantee you tickets for games. The good news is that there are plenty of alternatives. Several recommended websites allow you to purchase football tickets without a membership.
Using secondary ticket marketplaces is the safest and most secure way of buying Premier League tickets, with travel agencies and social media proving to be the more expensive and riskier ways of purchasing tickets.
Browse football tickets at Ticket Compare for the biggest events across the world. We offer tickets for the biggest sporting events across the world including the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can You Get Premier League Tickets Without a Membership?
It’s possible to get Premier League tickets without having a membership. There are a few effective ways to do this, including secondary ticket exchanges and comparison sites like ours. We can almost always help you find tickets for all Premier League matches.
How Hard Is It to Get Premier League Tickets?
Depending on the Premier League club that you support, it can be incredibly difficult to buy English Premier League tickets. Most Premier League clubs have dedicated fanbases with incredibly high demand for tickets each week of the season.
Not all hope is lost, though, as secondary ticket exchanges can be a great way to source tickets to watch your favourite club.
Can You Buy Premier League Tickets Outside the Stadium?
It’s normal for ticket “touts” to be selling Premier League tickets outside of stadiums on match day. It’s extremely risky to buy tickets from touts, though, as scams are common. Many people who buy tickets from them get to the gate, only to find that their ticket is fake, and they have wasted their money.
Instead of buying Premier League tickets outside of stadiums, we recommend buying them from our independently reviewed secondary sellers, so that you can be sure that you’re purchasing a genuine ticket and will avoid disappointment.
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