Football Betting

Betting and sport are synonymous with one another, and after horse racing, football is the biggest betting market in the UK. In 2011, £273.3million was waged on football matches. 

Football betting is hardly a new phenomenon; football and betting have been intertwined for quite some time. In fact, way back in 1915, English football was rocked by a betting scandal. Relegation threatened Manchester United colluded with arch-rivals Liverpool to fix the game in their favour. The players involved decided that United should win 2-0, which had odds of 7-1. United won 2-0, but the FA and bookies became suspicious after numerous handbills started to appear. The group of players were soon busted, and seven players were banned for life.

Of course betting scandals appear in football; they appear in every sport, but luckily they are a rare occurrence. It is also a problem that is nearing eradication, as the FA rightly dishes out Draconian punishments to those accused.   

Away from football betting history, there are numerous ways you can bet on football in today's day and age. Of course you can still bet at football stadiums and in bookmakers' shops, but thanks to technological advances, you can bet online and on your phone or tablet.

There are numerous bets that a punter can place. A favourite with casual football gamblers is the accumulator. This is where you choose numerous teams to win and their odds accumulate into a grand total. This is good if you want to place a low stake, as the high odds give you a decent return. For example, back in 2001 an anonymous punter scooped £500,000, off a 30p, 15-team accumulator.

The goalscoring market is also very popular. Here you can gamble on which player you think will be the first goalscorer. If your player isn't on the pitch you will usually get your money back. You can also bet on goalscorer anytime. You can merge the first goalscorer with the outright winner market to further enhance your odds. You can also bet on the amount of goals scored, e.g. bet £10 that there will be fewer than three goals in a game.

Correct score bets make up a decent proportion of total football bets placed. Although a hard one to predict correctly, you are rewarded with better odds than just betting on someone to win outright. Most bookies also offer you half-time/full-time betting. Here, you bet on who will be winning at half-time and full-time. 
If you prefer to bet in more niche areas, you can bet on total amount of corners or the amount of cards a team receives. In fact, these days, there isn't much that you can't bet on! 

For all the latest Football Betting place check out betting.betfair