American journalism student Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) moves in with his sister and her family in London. There, he meets football hooligan Pete Dunham (Charlie Hunnam), who introduces him to his rough tribal world, where supporters of opposing teams battle each other before and after games. But Pete's lieutenant, Bovver (Leo Gregory), suspects Matt's motives and inadvertently reopens a years-old rivalry between Pete's brother (Marc Warren) and the leader of a rival gang (Geoff Bell).