Best Football Betting Apps in the UK for 2024

Solomon Shehata, writer, NewsDirect.com | Fact Checked By: Sarah Lunness, NewsDirect.com

Football betting in the UK has grown immensely in popularity over recent years. An industry that used to be confined to brick-and-mortar betting shops has gone digital, with football betting websites now pulling in (and paying out) billions of pounds per year. But just as the majority of sports betting migrated from shops to websites, things are changing again as they shift from websites to betting apps. 

In this guide, we’ll look at the best football betting apps in the UK, what makes them so good, how they keep punters coming back for more and what sort of Welcome Bonus they offer for downloading and signing up.

As of this writing, there are nearly 50 online football betting sites licensed to operate in the UK and all but a lonely few have their dedicated app. But not every online sportsbook with a football betting app is created equal. Below we present 12 UK football betting apps our experts believe rise above the rest.

Our Recommended UK Football Betting Apps

18+ Gambling Can Be Addictive. Please Play Responsibly. Registration Required. GambleAware GamStop Gambling Commission

A Closer Look at our Top 5 Football Betting Apps

1. Betfred – £50 in Free Bets when you Bet £10

New customers only. Register with BETFRED50. Deposit £10+ via Debit Card and place your first bet £10+ at Evens (2.0)+ on Sports within 7 days to get 3 x £10 in Sports Free Bets & 2 x £10 in Acca Free Bets within 10 hours of settlement. 7-day expiry. Eligibility & payment exclusions apply. Full T&Cs apply.

The Betfred app lures a lot of punters in with its £50 Free Bets Welcome Offer. But it does not take long before those new customers realise there are a lot of other things that make the Betfred app one of the best football bet apps around.

As we said, Betfred’s appeal starts with its Welcome Offer, where you earn £50 in Free Bets for opening a new account and placing a first bet of at least £10 at even odds or better. It extends to the insane number of football betting markets, its state-of-the-art live streams, and its competitive odds.

But we would be selling them short if we did not also mention the array of speciality markets they offer, the variety of funding options, the minimum deposit requirement of only £10, the unmatched number of existing customer promos, and the great selection of live in-play football betting options.

2. Copybet – Bet 10 get 50

Full T&Cs apply. New UK customers only. The qualifying bet should be either a Single or Acca (2+ selections) bet, start at £10, have 1.9 or greater odds and must be settled within 7 days of sign-up. 5 Free bets which must be placed with a min odds of 2 include: 1 x £10 Free bet on any Pre-match Football game (single); 1 x £10 Free Bet for Horse Racing (single); 1 x £10 Free Bet for Acca (min 2 selections) Bet on any sport; 1 x £10 Free Bet for Acca (min 3 selections) Bet on any sport; 1 x £10 Free Bet for Acca (min 4 selections) Bet on any sport. Max payout – £500. 7 day expiry. To unlock the offer, complete the first deposit via the banking app (Open banking). 18+. GambleAware

3. BetVictor – 100% Matched Free Bet up to £100

18+ | New Customer | Opt in and bet up to £/$/€100 at odds 2.00 + within 7 days of registration; excludes cashed out bets. Matched Bonus paid in Free Bets; 7 day expiry. Geo Restrictions. Click for T&Cs. | begambleaware.org | Please Gamble Responsibly!

When people think of the best betting football apps, not a lot think of BetVictor. But they should. The BetVictor betting app provides one of the best selections of football markets you will find on any app or sportsbook website. The app is cross-platform compatible, offers clear, intuitive navigation and provides live streams of most key football fixtures, which you can view if you have a funded account.

Speaking of funding your account, the BetVictor app accepts debit cards, PayPal, Bank Transfers and the most popular e-wallets including Neteller and Skrill. Once properly funded, you will have plenty of ways to get in on the action, including a Bet Builder feature, boosted odds, acca insurance and a steady stream of existing customer promos that will keep you coming back.

4. William Hill – Get £30 in Free Bets when you Stake £10

18+. Play Safe. From 00:01 on 18.10.2022. £30 bonus. New customers only. Minimum £10 stake on odds of 1/2 (1.5) or greater on sportsbook (excluding Virtual markets). Further terms apply. #ad GambleAware

William Hill has been around the block a few times. They are one of the oldest sportsbooks in the UK, and we learned a long time ago that if you want to keep UK punters happy, you will give them plenty of opportunities to play and win with football. The William Hill app was introduced a few years ago and quickly went on to cement its place among the best football betting apps.

It is not just that they offer a head-spinning variety of football markets, including speciality markets, that makes them so good. It is also their outstanding YourOdds bet builder feature, the fact that all you need to watch any of their high-quality live streams is a valid account and their plethora of existing customer promos.

The app is also very intuitive, features rock-solid security, and is largely devoid of wacky and distracting graphics. As if all that was not enough, it also features a Welcome Bonus that is virtually identical to that of bet365: You earn £30 in Free Bets for opening an account and placing a qualifying bet of at least £10.

5. Spreadex – Get £40 in Free Bets

Spread betting losses can exceed deposit. 18+ begambleaware.org.

How to join a Football Betting App

Installing and joining a sportsbook through a football betting app is a lot easier than most people think. The following steps will apply to most of the best football betting apps that come from UK betting sites.

• Determine which bookmaker’s football betting app you want to use and then download it either from Google Play, the App Store or the bookmaker’s website.
• Install the app on your smartphone. Should take about 30 seconds.
• Once installed tap on the app to open it.
• At the top of the homepage, there will be a brightly coloured button that says “Join” or “Register” or the equivalent. Tap it.
• An application form will open. Fill in all required fields.
• Select a username and password. You may also have the option of choosing a biometric login.
• Accept the Terms & Conditions.
• Tap the “Join Now” or equivalent button.

Now that your account is open you will need to fund it using one of the payment methods specified by the bookmaker. (Not all bookmakers accept the same variety of payment methods.) Also, if you want to take advantage of the bookmaker’s Welcome Bonus make sure your first deposit is made using the proper method. Typically that means a debit card.

Once your account is active and funded you are now free to wager to your heart’s content. Just remember that to take advantage of the Welcome Bonus your first wager will need to meet certain criteria established by the bookmaker. These will be the steps that you can expect to take with most new sports betting sites when downloading their app.

Choosing The Best Football Betting Apps

When determining which sports betting apps in the UK are the best football betting apps we weigh the following considerations:

Live Streaming

The advent of wireless broadband has made live streaming of sporting events possible. As such live streaming has become something of the holy grail of betting apps definitively separating the best from the rest. If live streaming is important to you make sure the football app you have your eye on features it. Not all of them do.

Cash Out

Cash Out is something most punters want to see from a betting app. But not all football betting apps currently offer it. That will probably change shortly due to popular demand, but anything that complicates the already complicated business of running a world-class betting app with hundreds of thousands of daily users is going to be introduced only when the bookmaker is good and ready, and we can understand that.

Bet Builder

All of the best football bet apps now offer Bet Builder. The Bet Builder feature enables the punter to fashion his or her bet by combining several selections into a single wager. It is not quite an acca but it’s similar. An accumulator features several selections from different events, while a Bet Builder contains numerous selections from one event. The Bet Builder feature on the different football betting apps contain slight variations that make them unique to the bookmaker in question. But they are all fundamentally the same.

Football Betting Offers

The football betting market in the UK is huge and highly competitive. Every bookmaker wants to carve out a bigger piece of pie for themselves and to do that they need to offer eye-catching promotions for both new and existing members. For that reason, we want to see a variety of worthwhile promotions that will reward punters for their loyalty and keep them coming back. That includes mobile-only offers.

Competitive Odds

Live Streaming, Cash Out and Bet Builders are all important when determining which are the best football betting apps in the UK, but they don’t mean much if the bookmaker is offering second-rate odds. For that reason, we take a good close look at the odds offered by the different football betting sites and, by extension, their mobile apps and choose only those who do right by their customers.

Security

If football betting apps had the same kind of lax security so often displayed by social media sites they would not last long. When developing a football mobile app the bookmaker must put a premium on security. If they do not, and hackers gain access, the whole edifice crumbles into dust. We took a good look at the reputation of each betting app to determine if they measure up security wise.

Payment Methods

A couple of years ago the UK government outlawed the practice of using credit cards to fund gambling. Therefore bookmakers had to find alternatives and many have adjusted fairly well. Without a doubt, most sportsbooks today would prefer all customers fund their accounts using debit cards. But they also understand that is not feasible. So the best also accept payment through PayPal, Bank Transfers and a variety of e-wallets such as Skrill and Neteller. They don’t, however, accept crypto for the very sound reason that it is far too volatile. All that said, one of the most common shortcomings amongst the top sports betting apps in the UK is a shortage of funding options.

Welcome Bonus

Football betting apps need a way to entice people to sign up, so they use the tried and true method of the Welcome Bonus or SignUp Bonus. This typically entails giving away Free Bet credits to new customers who make minimum first deposits and qualifying first bets. In other cases, the bonus may take the form of guaranteeing the first bet up to a predetermined amount. Or the bookmaker may match the size of your first deposit up to a given amount.

What to do if you have a gambling problem

We understand that gambling can be fun, but it is important to gamble responsibly. If you are struggling with a gambling problem, please don’t hesitate to ask for help. There are people who can help you get on the road to recovery.

Here are some resources that can help you:

• National Gambling Helpline: 0808 8020 133
• GamCare: https://www.gamcare.org.uk/
• GambleAware: https://www.gambleaware.org/

Football Betting Apps FAQs

Solomon Shehata

Solomon Shehata is a seasoned sports betting content writer who specialises in delivering insightful analyses, predictions, and tips. Renowned for his expertise and engaging style, Solomon’s work helps bettors make informed decisions across various sports.