How to Watch Football For FREE In The UK

Some Sneaky Tactics

Yes that's right, you can watch football for free in the UK. Okay, not every way we might suggest is entirely free, but you haven't been clickbaited. Prices for subscription services like Sky and TNT Sports are very expensive, so there are ways to get around the high prices. No I won't be telling you the best streaming sites as we here at Football Park would love to keep our jobs as streaming sites are illegal. The 3pm blackout remains ,unfortunately; however, if you are an AFCON fan, then you will also like this one.

Free AFCON Matches

The Africa Cup of Nations kicked off last night with a comfortable 2-0 victory for Morocco over Comoros. Real Madrid man Brahim Diaz was the star in that one with a goal to show for it. But did you know that every single AFCON match is free to watch in the UK? All you need is a TV and there you go. Channel 4 is showing every AFCON match from last night's game all the way to the final.

In 2023, Sky Sports did hold the rights to AFCON but luckily Channel 4 were able to obtain the rights and allow everyone to watch the games for free. Cheers Channel 4.

’Tis the season for giving 🎁

We’re delighted to announce that for the first time in history, AFCON will be live exclusively on free-to-air TV, broadcasting across @Channel4 🎉

Subscribe to our YouTube to make sure you don’t miss a moment of the action 👀#C4Sport | #AFCON pic.twitter.com/S3dHvJ0Ffx

— Channel 4 Sport (@C4Sport) December 3, 2025

You COULD Get TNT Free

This only applies to a small number of people, but you could be very lucky. If you were a BT TV customer in the past you were able to get BT Sports channels for free. BT TV has now changed to EE and BT Sports is obviously now TNT Sports. So this means the deal that new EE customers do not get TNT Sports for free.

However, if you were lucky enough to be a BT TV customer in the past, you could potentially be able to get your hands on a free Discovery+ subscription which TNT streams on. It is worth having a look.

It's not the end of the world though if you are an EE customer, as there are still plenty of benefits available with your subscription. You can get TNT sports for a huge discount compared to the normal price.

ITV Are Also Helping

ITV have also been kind enough to recognise the absurd prices of football subscriptions, so at the start of this season they announced they broadcast 20 free-to-air matches during the 2025/26 season. It is important to keep an eye out on what games are being aired as the Steel City derby between Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday was free to watch earlier this season.

It is not only EFL matches to keep an eye out for as a number of Carabao Cup matches have been free to watch as well. Sky Sports and ITV made the agreement at the beginning of this season and the second half of matches that are free to watch will be announced soon. I'm here begging for a QPR game but that will never happen.

Don't forget about BBC

BBC IS always reliable in showing matches for free. There is always Match of the Day but that is just the highlights and there is no Gary Lineker anymore. However, don't worry as the BBC routinely broadcast FA Cup matches, England international friendlies and the Women's Super League.

FA Cup third round matches are beginning in January and with some luck your favourite team might be free to watch. With the BBC it is always about keeping an eye out, as there is usually some form of football being played on their channels. However, with the FA Cup this year there is only a select amount and fans are upset with how many matches are behind a paywall.

The TV schedule for the #EmiratesFACup third round has been confirmed 📺

🔗 https://t.co/yyCr8ypEfs pic.twitter.com/gjZblCAFjx

— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) December 12, 2025

Deal For Students

If you're a student, there are many deals out there for you. Amazon Prime offer the best deal with six months free of Amazon Prime Student if you are in full-time education. Amazon Prime Student doesn't come with all the benefits a normal subscription would, but for free it is most definitely worth it. Amazon still show Champions League matches which are included in the student membership for free.

It’s not the end of the world when the six months run out as the renewal price is only £4.49 per month or £47 for the year.

Last But Not Least

There is one last option if none of these other options work for you and it is probably the best option out there. Just get down to your local pub and there will most likely be some sort of football on TV. Nothing beats live football at the pub as it is free to watch, but you are missing out if you don't watch it with a pint in hand.

If your local doesn't show football, you need a new pub.