How Football Club Membership Schemes Actually Work (And Whether They're Worth It for Tickets)

No membership, no ticket. That's the reality at most big Premier League clubs. Not general sale. Not "try your luck on the day." No membership, no chance.

But here's the bit that stings: membership doesn't guarantee you a seat either. Especially for the fixtures you actually want. So before you hand over £30 to £60, you need to know exactly what you're buying, and what you're not.

Key takeaways

• At high-demand Premier League clubs like Arsenal, a paid membership is the minimum requirement to enter a ticket ballot or access a member sale window. Not an optional extra.
• Membership does not guarantee a ticket for any match. For the biggest fixtures at top-six clubs, ballot odds can be genuinely poor even with the higher-tier membership.
• Arsenal's Red Membership costs £38 per season and Silver costs £56, with Silver's only advantage being earlier ballot access.
• The typical sale timeline runs: season ticket holders first, then higher-tier members, then lower-tier members, with general sale only happening if (big if) anything's left.
• Smart fans layer their options: membership for ballot access, the club's official Ticket Exchange for returns, and Football Ticket Pro alerts so you know the moment official sales, ballots and drops open.

How does the ticket sale timeline actually work?

Season ticket holders get first dibs. Always. They've committed thousands of pounds and their seat is locked in before the season starts. After that, the leftover tickets (however many survive, and at some clubs it's not many) filter down through membership tiers.

At Arsenal, home General Admission tickets have been sold through a randomised ballot since 2023-24. No queue. No first-come-first-served. You enter during a window, and seats are drawn at random. Logging in the second the window opens gets you nothing. Entering five minutes before it closes? Same odds.

Here's how Arsenal's timeline breaks down:

Stage | Who gets access | Typical timing

Season ticket holders | Seats already allocated | Pre-season

Silver Member ballot | Silver Members (£56/season) | Roughly 6-8 weeks before the match

Red Member ballot | Red Members (£38/season) | Roughly 4-6 weeks before the match

General sale | Anyone (if tickets remain) | After member ballots close

Unsold seats from the Silver ballot roll into the Red ballot. Anything still left after that goes to general sale. For Arsenal's biggest matches, virtually nothing reaches general sale. That's the reality.

Other top Premier League clubs run similar tiered systems, though the exact mechanics differ. Some use traditional first-come queues during member windows rather than ballots. The principle is universal: paying members get access before the general public, and higher-tier members get access before lower-tier ones.

Do you actually need a membership to buy tickets?

At Arsenal, yes. Full stop. You need at least a Red Membership (£38 for 2026/27) to enter the ballot for home Premier League, FA Cup, and European fixtures. No membership, no ballot entry. No ballot entry, no ticket. No access to the Ticket Exchange either.

The same is broadly true at other high-demand Premier League clubs.

For clubs outside the top six, the picture changes. Mid-table and lower-table Premier League sides, plus most EFL clubs, often sell tickets on general sale without requiring a membership at all. If you follow a club that doesn't routinely sell out, membership might be a nice-to-have rather than a must-have. Check your club's ticketing page before parting with cash.

What's the difference between a membership and a season ticket?

Completely different animals. People mix these up constantly, so here's the blunt version:

| Membership | Season ticket

Cost | £30-£60 per season (varies by club) | Hundreds to thousands of pounds

What you get | The right to try to buy tickets | A guaranteed seat for every home league match

Commitment | One season, cancel any time | Multi-year waitlists at big clubs

Seat | Different seat each time (if you're lucky enough to get one) | Same seat, every match

At Arsenal, Red Membership is £38. A season ticket? You're looking at a waitlist that's been closed or barely moving for years, with prices running into four figures depending on the seat. A membership gets you in the door. A season ticket gives you the house. Enormous gap.

Does membership guarantee you a ticket?

No. Not even close at top-six clubs. This is the bit that does your head in.

At Arsenal, the club publishes ballot success rates by membership tier as a transparency measure. For the biggest Premier League fixtures (categorised A+ or A), demand far outstrips supply. Even Silver Members, who get the earlier ballot window, are far from guaranteed.

You can't pick your exact seat or price band in the Arsenal ballot either. You authorise a card, choose up to two preferred price bands for league games, and if you're drawn successful, you're charged automatically. No shopping around. No backing out.

Can't attend? No refund. Your only option is listing it on the Ticket Exchange.

For lower-category matches (B or C at Arsenal), your odds improve because demand drops. Sod's law, those tend to be the games you're less desperate to see.

How much do Premier League memberships cost?

Here's what's verified:

• Arsenal Red Membership: £38 per season (2026/27)
• Arsenal Silver Membership: £56 per season (£51 for seniors 66+)

The only practical difference between Arsenal's Red and Silver tiers is ballot priority. Silver Members enter ballots roughly 6-8 weeks before a match, while Red Members enter 4-6 weeks before. Silver gets no extra perks beyond that earlier window. So that extra £18 buys you a slightly better shot in the draw. Nothing more.

Beyond ticket access, Arsenal Red Membership includes a 10% club shop discount and access to the My Arsenal Rewards points programme. Nice enough, but let's be honest, nobody's buying a membership for 10% off a replica shirt.

The "should you buy a membership?" decision framework

I've watched mates agonise over this, so here's a simple way to think about it. Run through these five questions:

The match-day membership checklist

1. How many matches do you want to attend this season? If the answer is one or two, membership at a high-demand club is still worth it because it's the only way in. At Arsenal, £38 for a Red Membership is the minimum entry fee just to have your name in the hat. If you follow a club that sells on general sale without membership, skip it.

2. Is your club high-demand or mid-table demand? Top-six clubs: membership is basically compulsory. For clubs that don't routinely sell out, you can often bag tickets on general sale without one.

3. Are you targeting big fixtures or any home game? If you only want the North London derby, brace yourself. Even with membership, your odds in the ballot are poor for the highest-category matches. Flexible on which game you attend? Your chances improve dramatically.

4. Are you UK-based or travelling from abroad? International fans can generally buy memberships at most Premier League clubs. But Arsenal's ballot charges your card automatically if you win, and there are no refunds, only the Ticket Exchange. If you're flying in, be confident you can make the date before entering.

5. Do you already have loyalty points or credits? At clubs that use points-based systems (Arsenal's Away Points, for example), basic membership tiers don't earn you those points. Arsenal away tickets require Away Points accrued only by season ticket holders, Platinum Members, and Travel Club Members. Red and Silver Members don't earn them. Away days at a big club without years of built-up credits? A mug's game.

The verdict: If your club requires membership for ticket access, buying one is a no-brainer. It's the cost of entry. If your club doesn't require it, weigh whether the member sale window gives you a meaningful head start over general sale.

What happens when membership isn't enough?

Here's where the frustration really kicks in. You've paid your £38, entered every ballot going, and still come away with no joy. Now what?

Official Ticket Exchange. At Arsenal, season ticket holders and ballot winners who can't attend can list their tickets here at face value. But there's a catch: you only get access to the Exchange if you entered the ballot for that match in the first place. Didn't enter? Locked out entirely.

Hospitality packages. The guaranteed route, but daylight robbery price-wise. Hundreds of pounds for a single match. Only worth it if money is no object and you absolutely must be there.

Ticket alerts. This is where it pays to have a backup. Football Ticket Pro alerts you when official sales, ballots and drops open, so when the official ballot doesn't go your way, you're not scrambling through dodgy resale sites or Twitter touts. Clubs like Arsenal run random photo-ID checks matching the name on the ticket, so buying from unauthorised sources risks refused entry. Not worth the gamble.

A favour from a season ticket holder. If you know someone with a season ticket who can't make a match, clubs allow official transfers. At Arsenal, this goes through the Ticket Exchange system.

The smart approach? Layer these options. Membership for ballot access. The Exchange for returns. Alerts for when everything else sells out.

Common mistakes that cost you tickets

• Buying membership after a ballot window opens. At Arsenal, a new membership can take up to 48 hours to gain ballot access. Buy it the day a ballot opens and you could miss the window entirely. Get it sorted well in advance.
• Assuming early entry helps. Arsenal's ballot is randomised. Entering in the first minute gives you zero advantage over entering in the last. Don't lose sleep over timing.
• Ignoring group rules. Arsenal lets you enter as a group of up to four eligible members, but the whole group is drawn all-or-nothing. If one of your mates doesn't have a valid membership, the entire group entry fails. Proper faff.
• Forgetting there are no refunds. Win a ballot ticket you can't use? You're stuck with it unless you shift it on the Ticket Exchange. Plan your diary before you enter.
• Buying from dodgy resellers. Photo-ID checks are a thing. Getting turned away at the turnstile after paying over the odds to a tout is about as gutting as it gets.

So is membership worth it?

If you follow a high-demand club and want to see a single home match this season, membership isn't optional. It's the minimum. At Arsenal, £38 for the Red tier gets you into the ballot system. That's less than the cost of most match tickets themselves. Even if you only win one ballot all season, the membership has paid for itself in access alone.

If you follow a club where tickets regularly reach general sale, membership is a nice perk (earlier access, shop discounts) but not essential.

The honest answer: membership gets you through the door, but it doesn't put you in the seat. For the biggest matches at the biggest clubs, you need patience, flexibility, and a backup plan.

Stay realistic. Enter every ballot you can. Keep the Ticket Exchange bookmarked. And have alerts on for the fixtures that matter most.

Sources: Arsenal (arsenal.com). Last verified 13 June 2026.

Want a heads-up when tickets go on sale for the matches you care about? You can get Football Ticket Pro's ticket alerts.