Safer gambling

Football Match Stats is a statistics site for adults. If gambling stops being fun, help is free, confidential and available now.

18+Adults only

Talk to someone now

National Gambling Helpline, run by GamCare, for England and Scotland

0808 8020 133

Free, confidential, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Or chat online with GamCare.

If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999. If you are struggling and need to talk, Samaritans answer any time on 116 123.

What our stats can and cannot do

Our numbers describe what has already happened: results, goals, cards, corners and form. They do not predict what will happen next, and no statistic makes a bet safe or more likely to win. Football is unpredictable, and bookmakers set prices so that, over time, they come out ahead.

We are not a bookmaker and we do not take bets. Gambling is for adults only: bookmakers are not allowed to take bets from anyone under 18.

Keeping it under control

  • Decide how much money and time you will spend before you start, and stop when you reach it.
  • Only bet with money you can afford to lose. Never with money for bills, rent or food.
  • Never chase losses. Trying to win back what you have lost usually means losing more.
  • Don’t gamble when you are upset, stressed, or have been drinking.
  • Gambling is not a way to make money or to solve money problems.
  • Take breaks, and keep doing the other things you enjoy.

Signs it might be becoming a problem

  • Spending more money or time on gambling than you meant to.
  • Betting more to get the same excitement, or to win back losses.
  • Borrowing money, or selling things, to gamble or to cover gambling debts.
  • Hiding your gambling, or lying about it, to people close to you.
  • Feeling anxious, low or irritable about gambling, or when you try to stop.

If any of these sound familiar, the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 (England and Scotland), or the helpline for Wales or Northern Ireland, can talk it through with you, free and in confidence.

Tools that help

  • GAMSTOP

    Free self-exclusion from every online gambling site and app licensed in Great Britain, in one step. You choose 6 months, 1 year or 5 years, and it cannot be cancelled early.

    gamstop.co.uk

  • Your bookmaker’s own tools

    Every bookmaker licensed in Great Britain must let you set deposit limits, take a time-out and self-exclude from your account. Look under “Safer gambling” or “Responsible gambling” in your account settings.

    Gambling Commission guide

  • Gambling blocks on your bank card

    Many UK banks and card providers let you block gambling payments in their app. Some make you wait before the block can be removed.

    Ask GamCare

  • Blocking software

    Free apps such as BetBlocker stop gambling sites loading on your phone and computer. Paid tools such as Gamban do the same.

    betblocker.org

  • Betting shops and venues

    Betting shops, casinos, arcades and bingo halls run their own self-exclusion schemes. The National Gambling Helpline can help you set one up.

    gamcare.org.uk

Support for you and the people close to you

  • GamCare

    Runs the National Gambling Helpline for England and Scotland, live chat, an online forum and support for family and friends, plus services for young people.

    gamcare.org.uk

  • GambleAware.org

    Advice, a gambling harms self-assessment and a finder for free support and treatment in Great Britain. Run by the Department of Health and Social Care since the GambleAware charity closed in March 2026.

    gambleaware.org

  • NHS gambling support

    Specialist NHS clinics treat people with more serious gambling problems. You can ask your GP or the helpline for a referral.

    nhs.uk

  • Gamblers Anonymous

    Free local and online meetings with others who are recovering.

    gamblersanonymous.org.uk

  • GamAnon

    Support groups for the family and friends of people who gamble.

    gamanon.org.uk

  • StepChange

    Free, confidential debt advice if gambling has left you with money worries.

    stepchange.org

Gambling on this site

Some match previews may show prices from bookmakers, with links to them. Those blocks are advertising and are labelled “Ad”: we earn a commission if you open an account through one of the links, at no cost to you. We only show bookmakers we partner with, which affects which ones appear and in what order, and “best price” means the best of those shown.

We only link to bookmakers licensed by the Gambling Commission to offer gambling in Great Britain, and we check each one on the Commission’s public register. Every price carries an 18+ mark and links back to this page. We never use words like “risk-free” or “guaranteed”, and we never urge you to bet.

More detail is in our terms and privacy policy.