Hello fellow travel enthusiasts!

I will be taking a solo trip to London from mid-November until early December of this year. While there, I would like to take in one or two Premier League or Football League matches. I have looked through the fixtures and have found that most of the London teams from the Premiership through League 2 play at least one home match while I'm visiting, including Arsenal, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Spurs, West Ham United, Brentford, Fulham, Millwall, QPR, AFC Wimbledon, Charlton Athletic and Barnet.

After a cursory look at tickets through some of the club websites, it appears that most (if not all) are sold through memberships. Also, most clubs websites only show tickets through the month of September. I am assuming this is due to the fact that cup play may dictate league match scheduling. I have seen some secondary ticket marketplaces with tickets for sale to later matches, but I am hesitant to buy tickets there for the previously mentioned reason.

Here are my questions:

1) Is it absolutely necessary to sign up for a membership to get tickets, or can I show up to the ticket window and purchase a ticket on the day of the match? Or, would I be better off waiting until cup ties are decided and then purchase tickets through a secondary marketplace?
2) Which Football League venues in London are must-sees? I might base some of this on how the various clubs are performing come November, but are tickets to these matches easier to come by?
3) Any recommendations on seating at specific venues?
4) Any recommended eateries for evening match watching?

I understand that certain matches are going to come at a premium, and I certainly don't mind paying it to see a match at Wembley, Emirates, or Stamford Bridge. As this is my first visit to the U.K., I'm also planning to see some of the more touristy locales - recommendations on these are also great appreciated.

Thanks!

Casey

I've done a few trips in the U.K. and Germany. I'll post later when I have time to give details.

We went to west ham in their last year at upton park. Was amazing. I'm an Everton supporter so I've been to a Mersey side derby at Goodison.

For London, you'll get better prices at watford, crystal palace, etc. you might take the train down south to see newly promoted Brighton & Hove Albion

Tottenham plays in Wembley this season so there might be ample tickets for their matches

Been to a lot of matches and my favorite one was probably AFC Wimbledon. The atmosphere was the most like a college football game pre game and the fans were awesome.

We were able to just buy tickets online from them a few days before the game.

You might be able to join a local fan club pretty easily. I watch Liverpool games with the Houston chapter but I'm not an official member.

Joining the membership clubs, especially for the larger clubs, does not guarantee you will get tickets. They typically go on sale in the middle of the night in the US due to the time difference and go very quickly. I made two trips last season to Liverpool and Arsenal matches and just ended up doing the secondary market. Livefooballtickets.com worked great both times.

Because you have to be a member for those clubs, they did not issue paper tickets and instead is a membership card that you have to arrange pick up and drop off for. For Liverpool we used a courier, and for Arsenal we just had them mailed to the flat and dropped them in a mailbox after the match. Neither was that big of a hassle. I always suggest sitting in the "supporters" section. Typically behind the goal in most stadiums, but by far the best atmosphere and experience.

I am a Liverpool supporter, but I enjoyed the Emirates experience. Big, new stadium and great supporters. We went to two pubs before the match and they could not have been more different. The Gunners was old, dirty, but filled with locals and die hard fans. The Tollington was new and packed with every type of Arsenal fan. Be aware that Arsenal are the most expensive tickets in the premier league.

I also went to a Watford match which is about a 20-30 overground train ride north. Most of the stadium is fairly new and nice, but the atmosphere was nothing special. Plus the town of Watford does not have a lot to offer, but the tickets were pretty cheap. I have heard great things about Fulham's game experience. They are the top of my list for my next trip.

Texags to the rescue, as usual -- thanks for the tips! I probably should have mentioned that I'm an Owls supporter, owing to the fact that my grandfather, a Yorkshire native, was a massive fan of the club. I would enjoy seeing a match at Hillsborough, but I have no other real reason to visit Sheffield, so we'll see if it happens...

Good to know about the membership cards, I'll plan to expect this if I go to Emirates or Stamford Bridge. I'd really like to see Mesut Ozil in action, but there are still a few days left before this transfer window closes, and there's no telling if he'll still be at Arsenal come November.

I have been paying fairly close attention to upcoming matches, and which clubs sell out of tickets before they are available to the public. It looks as though Spurs tickets will be a bit easier to come by due to the fact that, as MAROON mentioned, they're playing in Wembley this year. It looks like matches at Craven Cottage and Kingsmeadow should be fairly easy to come by - thank you for the heads-up! Wherever I end up going, I'll definitely plan to sit in the supporters sections when available.

Thank you to all who have taken the time to comment, and feel free to keep the suggestions coming!

I would try to go to a Palace match if you want some atmosphere.

Haven't looked at the schedule, but Fulham and Chelsea are about a mile apart. Depending on start time, you could conceivably catch both.

I'm a United fan, but Chelsea is a neat stadium and is quite small compared to their status. Good atmosphere.

I've also been wanting to go to Millwall. They've had a huge firm (hooligans / supporters club) and the atmosphere over the years (not so much recently) has been crazy.

Arsenal's fans initially hated the big stadium and being set back from the pitch, but it's still on my list of stadiums to see.

No matter where you go, you'll have a blast.

So most of my soccer plans have been finalized! I'm pretty sure I'll be sick of footy (and literally sick with pneumonia) by the time my trip comes to an end.

I'll be seeing the following matches in London:

Nov 25 - Spurs vs. West Brom
Nov 27 - QPR vs Brentford
Nov 28 - Charlton Athletic vs Peterborough
Nov 29 - Arsenal vs Huddersfield
Dec 2 - Millwall vs Sheffield United

I ended up getting most of my tickets during the past week. For Arsenal, I purchased a Red membership. I really didn't trust buying tickets off the secondary marketplace. I had an opportunity to snipe a ticket to the Arsenal/Man United match from the ticket exchange, but decided that I wouldn't be able to see the entire Millwall match and get to Emirates in time. I was really hoping to see matches at Stamford Bridge, Craven Cottage and Kingsmeadow, but alas, it will just have to happen next time.

Thanks to everyone for providing suggestions on how to go about purchasing tickets, and which matches to see!

Where did you end up buying your tickets from? My wife is English and her parents have a place outside of London. We typically go over in the summer but I keep hoping for a fall or winter trip so we can see some matches. The train in from their place takes you right by the Den and Palace would be an easy day trip for us as well.

We had a lot of fun at Brentford/Norwich on NYE last year at Griffin Park which was the only game we could find tickets to on short notice. (long story, but I only had two days notice that we were going)

It had a sort of "friday night lights" feel to it with the size of the stadium and it seeming like a more local team than the big clubs.